


My Little Big Bad Wolf

by SilverRaven33



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Guilty Conscience Derek, Hand Jobs, Lion King (1994) References, M/M, Non-Penetrative Sex, Pining Derek, Protective Stiles, Scerek - Freeform, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Smut, Underage Relationship(s), werewolf lessons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:27:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 19
Words: 45,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21995530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverRaven33/pseuds/SilverRaven33
Summary: Derek Hale might be a strong and experienced natural born werewolf, but his heart carries scars he's learned to live with. He does this best by keeping to himself, but when his mentally disturbed uncle and Alpha, Peter Hale, turns a sixteen year old boy named Scott McCall, Derek feels a responsibility to help the kid. He cannot possibly predict how Scott brightens his life and begins to make him believe in love again. The problem is that Scott's only a teenager, and Derek knows these feelings for him are wrong...Heed the Archive warnings please, I don't think the violence is overly graphic, given the fandom, but there are fight and torture scenes. SPOILER ALERT...don't worry it's not Derek or Scott that die.And yes, you read that one tag right, there's a few Lion King references; I'm kind of proud of those.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Scott McCall
Comments: 38
Kudos: 101





	1. Chapter 1

Derek’s careful green gaze settled on the young man leaning against one of the pillars near the wide door of Derek’s loft. When the elder werewolf had admitted the unexpected guest to his living quarters, Scott had not seemed willing to enter by more than a few feet. Derek had shrugged; no matter to him; and gone to sit back on his couch, leaning forward with his elbows planted on his splayed knees, long fingers meeting at the tips while he studied the teen over them. 

Scott’s heart was thumping steadily in Derek’s ears. He wasn’t exactly nervous, but he didn’t exactly want to be here. Derek was in no hurry and waited patiently for the younger werewolf to state his purpose. Not that Derek didn’t already know. He’d been keeping a close eye on Scott ever since the boy had gotten bit, and offered his help on more than one occasion, only to be thoroughly rejected by a distrustful and uneasy new werewolf. He understood. He didn’t trust people either. A hint of a smirk played at the corner of his lips while he watched Scott glare at him across his living room. 

The McCall teen was a promising young specimen; though Derek could not agree with his uncle turning him without permission, he had to admire Peter’s choice. Scott played lacrosse like he was good at it, even if he wasn’t, but it meant he kept himself in shape, and he carried his five foot nine inch frame with as much confidence as any sixteen year old boy could muster. His dark eyes and already chiseled jaw spoke of a maturity that he had yet to grow into, but Derek knew that he would. This young man was going to make an excellent werewolf, when he eventually could fully accept that fact. 

“Why are you stalking me?” Scott finally shot at the older man, irritation making the words sharp. One of Derek’s thick black brows arched in amusement.

“You’re the one that showed up on my doorstep,” he pointed out, his tone almost teasing. This only earned him a deeper glower from the boy across the room. 

“You know what I mean,” Scott retorted, louder and sterner. Of course Derek did. But somehow he couldn’t help egging Scott on. Seeing him get frustrated, angry even, amused Derek, and after all, it was good for him. 

“I don’t need a babysitter,” the younger werewolf spat. Derek sat up, dropping his hands to hang loosely between his knees now. 

“I would beg to differ,” he said steadily, and watched Scott’s nostrils flare. “Though I wouldn’t use that term,” he added in a softer tone. He had to tread carefully. He might enjoy getting under Scott’s skin a little, but he didn’t want the boy to completely turn away. Too much rode on him, and Derek’s conscious was already heavy. 

“Every time I turn around, you’re there,” Scott accused, standing up straight and advancing a step further into the loft. “What would you call that?”

“Making sure your punk werewolf ass doesn’t kill anyone,” Derek couldn’t help throwing back. Scott narrowed his eyes at the older man at this. 

“I’m doing fine,” he said, but Derek had picked up the increase in his heart rate at the word “kill.” The new werewolf was hiding it well, but the tang of fear could not completely be buried. Maybe it was time for some sterner treatment. Derek stood up, keenly noting how Scott widened his stance and tensed even further. Somehow, Derek had to get him to believe he wasn’t the threat. 

“You’re doing fine, hmm?” the older man asked. “Are you still having Stiles chain you up on the full moon? Have you been able to play a lacrosse game yet that you didn’t almost change on the field? Are the smells not driving you crazy anymore?” Scott opened his mouth as if to reply with something quick and scathing, but then he just let out a frustrated exhale and his gaze slid away, to the floor. Derek let him answer in his own time, sensing the battle that was being waged in Scott’s mind. 

“What else am I supposed to do?” he finally asked, still not looking at Derek. “It wasn’t my choice to become a fucking animal.” Derek let out a sigh of his own, deciding not to address the issue of choice right now. There was nothing he could do about that.

“You are not an animal,” he countered, trying to temper the aggression in his tone that this conviction put there. It still came out as a near growl. Derek had not had to add mentor to his life resume yet and he was not practiced in it.

“We are not animals,” he said with feeling but calmer. Scott’s eyes finally shot back to him.

“How can you say that?” the teen asked, confusion and anxiety twisting his handsome face. “We literally have fangs and claws!” 

“But we can control it,” Derek countered, then grit his teeth when Scott scoffed. “I promise,” he hurriedly added before the boy could retort. This kid was going to drive him up a wall. Derek was trying so hard, but he’d explained all this before. He’d been on the verge of giving up, in fact, and just letting Scott figure things out on his own, but now he’d shown up at his door. 

The older man watched the younger inhale and exhale several times, wondering what Scott’s next move would be. He half expected him to walk out, close himself off completely from the only help he was likely to find. And he’d probably be dead in another two months, Derek would guess, shot down by a hunter. As he watched the boy’s muscles relax out of the half fighting posture he’d been in, Derek had the sudden urge to lunge at him and wrap his arms around him, keep him from leaving. But he knew he couldn’t force him into anything. So he held himself carefully, square jaw taut, eyes boring into Scott’s soul, and senses tuned into the young werewolf’s mercurial mood. 

Scott’s heart thumped only once as he said, “Okay.” Uttered quietly, but with a strength behind that one word that spoke of the ability to ask for help, of self awareness and of determination to do the right thing. Derek had to hold back a smile. He couldn’t help but admire this guy.

That feeling proved to be short lived the next day when Scott was just  _ refusing _ to keep his breathing in check. Derek and Scott had met in the nature preserve after school, the first of their agreed upon teaching sessions. They’d only been out here a half hour and Derek was wondering why he’d pushed so hard for this. For one thing, Scott’s annoying best friend had insisted on tagging along, toting that ridiculous baseball bat with him, as if that would protect him if Derek decided he wanted to slash the smartass’s throat. Stiles was determined to hate him, and all Derek could do was laugh at him. Not favorable ground to stand on when they had to tolerate each other for Scott’s sake, but Derek didn’t care. He was used to being hated, and he wasn’t here to make friends.

“Counts of four. Four!” He couldn’t help yelling at his pupil as Scott crouched on the forest floor, leaves crunching under his fingers-half-turned-to-claws, his lungs making his torso heave with the effort of holding the change at bay. Stiles sat on a nearby rock, watching the scene with an almost paternal eagle eye. The low rumble of a growl was Scott’s only answer, and it was all Derek could do not to unsheath his own fangs and reply in kind. He was supposed to be the adult, though, the mature one, so he listened to his own advice and got his breathing under control. He was rewarded with a steadier sound of oxygen moving through Scott’s airways in turn. 

The teen got his feet under him once more and stood up straight, the determination to improve glaring from those rich mahogany irises. Derek nodded approvingly. Then, quick as a flash, he’d grabbed Scott’s arm where it hung loosely at his side and was behind the boy, pressing the slightly bent limb into the white cotton of the tee shirt covering Scott’s warm back. 

“One,” Derek counted off, as if he hadn’t moved. He could feel the blood racing through Scott’s veins under his grip, the struggle to remain calm very close and very real. Scott’s back arched a bit, and Derek could smell his frustration, almost wafting out of his nearly black hair right in front of Derek’s nose. The kid was just a couple inches shorter than he was, which would make practice easier; the older werewolf didn’t have to be overly gentle. 

“I’m not hurting you,” Derek said softly, from just behind Scott’s ear. “You’re not experiencing pain, just an annoyance. Breathe through it,” he coached. He saw and felt the muscles of Scott’s strong back relax, and his blood flow slow. Something akin to pride trickled through Derek as the young man in front of him regained control of his breathing again. 

“Good,” Derek praised, releasing the arm. But Scott was shaking his head as he turned to face his teacher.

“This seems so stupid,” he said, and Derek had to work to not want to clout him. The slight smile on the older man’s face disappeared. “Can’t you just...teach me how to not change?” 

“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Derek answered through gritted teeth. Scott rolled his eyes and hung an almost apologetic half grin on his face.

“Well, I know,” he conceded. “But can’t you like, do it faster?” Derek just stared at him, steely eyes disbelieving. Scott was very lucky he was cute, Derek thought, then gave his head a quick shake to expel that idea and wherever it had come from. 

“ _ No _ ,” he growled and abruptly spun on his heel and began to stride away. He didn’t turn back, even though he could clearly hear Scott holler after him, and then Stiles begin to spout off that Scott didn’t need him anyway. 

Derek found his unplanned hike taking him to one of his favorite spots in the woods; a copse of pine trees that a clear stream meandered into and through, with the bed of needles on the ground silencing footfalls and the babble of water usually soothing. This evening, however, the werewolf’s mind refused to be quieted. He could still feel the pulse of Scott’s blood flow under his fingers, and when he tried to focus on the stream’s flowing surface, Scott’s face with its cocky grin danced there, taunting him. He was a sixteen year old boy, Derek berated himself. He had no business, absolutely none, even remotely thinking of him in that way. 

Sure, maybe he was lonely, and maybe Scott was the first person to willingly spend time with him in a long while, but...it was strictly on a basis of necessity. They weren’t even friends. Derek was just trying to help him not slaughter half the town and get killed. There was no room or reason for attraction in that. It was just the frustration the kid could draw out of him, Derek decided by the time the sun had set. He was utterly alone in life, and not only had he gotten used to that, he’d learned to enjoy it. This teenager was not going to change that. 

Derek made his way home, trying to look forward to the calm quietness of his loft and not think about how big and empty his bed and his heart were. 


	2. Chapter 2

“Are you sure you have to do this?” Stiles’s voice rang through the woods, easily discernible even if one did not have supernatural hearing.

“He’s the only one that can help,” Scott replied, and Stiles could be heard sputtering.

“Oh? Oh, the only one? What, tracking your heartbeat and almost letting you kill me when the moon is full is not enough of a help?!”

Derek had moved close enough to the clearing where the two young men were to now watch them through the trees. Stiles looked completely affronted and Scott was grinning at him with that endearing...Scott was grinning at him, that was all, Derek corrected his brain. 

“No, it does help, really,” the young werewolf reassured his friend. “But I need to be able to fully control it, and I don’t see that happening without his help. Even if it takes longer than I want it to.”

“How do you even know he’s going to show up?” Stiles then asked. Derek grinned, about to enjoy himself immensely. 

He stepped out from behind the tree directly next to Stiles and tapped the guy on his shoulder, making the already jumpy teen leap out of his skin. 

“Oh! Jeebus!” Stiles yelled, his heartbeat tattering at Derek’s and Scott’s ears. His arms jerked out involuntarily, and he managed to not only land a light punch on Derek’s chest but also on his own face, and he almost lost his footing as he scrambled backwards. He was left standing there trying to regain some semblance of composure in front of the two werewolves.

“Because he could smell me,” Derek answered Stiles’s question, with an amused glint in his eye. 

“Right,” Stiles agreed, sarcasm coming to his aid once more, “And the fact that you’re obsessed with him and would be waiting here for him anyway doesn’t enter into it at all.” Stiles’s tone was light and teasing and Derek stamped down the spark of alarm these words started. 

“You know, I did,” Scott said in realization, looking at his mentor and deeply inhaling. His eyes half closed as he focused. “I’m getting to know your scent,” the teen said with some excitement. Derek knew this statement and the way it was delivered should not please him this much. He was suddenly glad that Stiles, someone else, anyone else, was around. Perhaps it was best if he and Scott weren’t alone together. 

“Tell me what else you can smell,” Derek instructed, trying to slip into teaching mode. After a moment, and why was Scott’s face so expressive, the teen shook his head. 

“There’s so many,” he said. “I smell everything.” 

“I know,” Derek reassured. “But you need to focus. Separate them out and start listing them to me. Everything’s going to just be a jumble unless you can concentrate.” He watched the dark eyes close, and the tanned skin of Scott’s face wrinkle in concentration, then smooth out, then wrinkle again. 

“Try to start with something more obscure,” Derek challenged, knowing that dirt and trees and the deer herd who’d passed by less than an hour ago would be the strongest scents.

Stiles, apparently deciding there was no immediate threat, wandered some yards away to sit down under a tree and open a book. Derek was thankful to get some distance from his Axe body spray. 

“I smell the school library,” Scott announced, with some confusion, then opened his eyes to see the book his friend was holding. 

“Not bad,” said Derek. Scott inhaled again.

“I smell your lunch on you,” he told Derek. “Roast beef sandwich? With salt and vinegar chips?” he asked. Okay, now the older werewolf was beginning to be rather impressed, but he took a couple of steps back, not wanting Scott to focus on him. 

“What do you smell about the forest around us?” he asked. 

Scott paused for a moment, then answered, “Well, the deer obviously. There were...two bucks and seven...no, eight, does. And there’s a family of raccoons? Up that oak tree over there.” Scott turned and pointed to a tree behind him by about a hundred yards that a large knothole could be seen in it, some ways off the ground. Derek nodded approvingly. 

“I still kind of can’t believe I can do this,” Scott said. “It is kinda cool,” he admitted. Derek shot him a toothy grin.

“It’s very cool, in many ways,” he told Scott. “And we’ve barely scratched the surface. Sit down. I want to go beyond the five boring human senses.” Scott followed his instructions, patient for once to learn. Once he’d been able to empty his mind, and tune into his new abilities, the teenager was able to announce that it was going to rain for about two hours the next day, that the spot of ground he was resting on had been traversed by no more than three humans in the last month, and the exact orientation of the Hale house from there, even though it was a mile away in a direction he’d never approached it in. 

“You were sixteen when your house burned down?” Scott asked suddenly, making Derek flinch at the personal turn the observations had taken. He recovered quickly, having worked hard to bury the memories of that night, and the arson that had taken everything from him. 

“That’s not important,” he stated.

“You were my age,” Scott said, in a tone of reflection that made it clear the fact was something he’d just uncovered now and not looked up in old news articles prior. “I - I’m sorry,” he told Derek, looking the older man full in the face across the few feet of earth between them, his eyes full of sympathy. Derek made his gaze hard, and rose from the ground.

“That’s enough for today,” he said. 

“Finally,” Stiles chimed in, slamming his book closed. For once Derek was grateful to hear his voice. “Actually doing homework is pretty boring you know.” 

“Well maybe next time we’ll practice tracking and hunting and you can be the bait,” Derek flashed his teeth, just his human ones, at the boy.

“Funny.” Stiles pointed to Derek and mockingly laughed as Scott joined them. “This guy’s hilarious.” 

“I wasn’t kidding,” he said, as coldly as possible, and enjoyed watching the grin slide off of Stiles’s face. Derek knew he could be imposing without even trying, and he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t fun to intimidate people. 

  
  


There was no intimidating his Uncle Peter, however, as the Alpha werewolf stood in the center of Derek’s loft like he owned the place. Not for the first time, Derek thanked the ancient gods that Peter was only his Alpha by blood and not bite, and a surge of pity for Scott went through him. This asshole and his sliminess was why Scott had to grow into his full power as quickly as he could.

“I know what you’re trying to do,” Peter’s commanding voice filled the air. His arms were crossed against his chest, legs steady underneath him, the secure posture one of someone who knew his standing. To be fair, he’d survived a lot to become Alpha, to merely still be alive. It was almost a shame he was who he was. 

“And I would suggest you stop,” he told Derek, who was glaring at him from across the living room. “Scott’s mine,” he reminded his nephew.

“He’ll never come to you.” Derek’s voice was full of disdain, bordering on ridicule. 

“Yes he will,” Peter replied smoothly. “He’s my Beta. He has to. And I don’t appreciate you meddling with him.” 

“I’m just trying to teach him, train him,” Derek explained. As much as he’d like to throw Peter out, physically as well as otherwise, he was merely a Beta himself. He had to play by the rules, at least to a degree. 

“But he’s  _ mine _ ,” Peter half growled. “And maybe I don’t want him tamed.” He said this last word as if it was a filthy swear.

There was a sour taste in Derek’s mouth at the sound of Peter claiming Scott in such a way, though he was, of course, correct. He had turned Scott and thereby owned his werewolf side. Derek kept his teeth clamped tightly shut so he didn’t say anything to cause a fight to erupt. The bloodlust was rising in his veins in spite of his best control, however. Peter didn’t miss it.

“Go ahead, attack me,” he taunted. “Maybe you can kill me and then you can be the Alpha and you can have Scott, if you want him so bad.” The older man’s smooth tongue had a special gift for twisting minds. 

“Oh, that’s right,” he continued, mockingly reflective. “You aren’t quite cold hearted enough to kill family.” Peter sighed in contentment. “How nice it is to not have morals.” Then the Alpha smiled benignly at his nephew. Derek was having all he could do to exercise his control, but he knew Peter wanted him to lose it, and that knowledge helped. He would not give the bastard the satisfaction. 

Nevertheless, his claws had unsheathed and his breath was a growling rumble. Would it be so bad, he thought? If he could get rid of Peter once and for all. Derek was not altogether sure that he wanted to be Alpha himself, though. He was not weak willed by any means, but that took a strength that he doubted he was up for. 

“You don’t deserve him,” he told his uncle. “He needs an Alpha that will take care of him.” 

“Oh how sweet. Genuine concern for the boy,” Peter mocked. “But yet you are not willing to try out for the position. So stay away from him.” And with that the older werewolf was gone. 


	3. Chapter 3

Sure that Peter was watching his movements, Derek hesitated to approach Scott again. He was torn; on one hand, he’d promised the kid he would help him, and Scott seemed to be appreciating the assistance. But while Derek was not precisely scared of Peter, he was leery of what the Alpha might do. No one had ever accused him of being fully sane, and Derek didn’t want to cause Scott potentially more trouble than he already had. Scott was talented at finding it all on his own, however.

The banging on the door of his loft late one night caused Derek to tense, ready to shift on a dime if the situation called for it. Upon sliding open the door, he was not overly shocked to see Scott’s face, pale and pissed. Then a man stepped up behind him and Derek smelled steel and hatred. Argent.

“This whelp yours?” Chris Argent asked him, his gaze and voice as cold as the gun he carried as he stared the werewolf down. Derek spared a glance for Scott, the teen’s head hanging down, and he knew that gun was pressed into his back. The plea in the deep brown eyes as Scott looked at Derek made the older man’s knees tremble and he regretted what his answer had to be.

“You know he’s not,” Derek replied, his expression the careful emotionless mask he’d trained it to be. 

“Said he was,” Argent intoned. “So one of you is lying. And since this one’s already lied to me once, I’m inclined to believe you, Derek, as strange as that sounds to my own ears.” 

“That wasn’t a lie!” Scott bravely announced, and was rewarded with the gun barrel digging further into his back, causing his chest to stretch outwards and his head to rise. Derek watched his eyes glow yellow and silently praised his student for maintaining this much control under these circumstances. He himself wanted to shift and attack but he knew Scott would have a bullet laced with wolfsbane in his lung before he would even get a swipe at the hunter’s arm. 

“Shut it, boy,” Argent commanded. Then, to Derek again, “At least I hope you’re not stupid enough to start turning teenagers. But if you didn’t, who did?” Derek was rather surprised that Argent didn’t know; the hunters usually kept close tabs on every bit of werewolf activity. Of course, he could also be bluffing. 

“Peter’s back,” Derek said without hesitation. Maybe he couldn’t kill a family member, but he wasn’t above selling one out. 

“I had my suspicions,” Argent replied. “Well, Mr. Hale, sorry to interrupt your evening. We’ll just be taking this youngster and finding ourselves an Alpha.” A hand came up to grasp Scott’s shoulder, to steer him away.

“Wait,” Derek said. Scott’s irises were glowing an even deeper gold. “We have a truce. What did this boy do to threaten him like this?” Argent’s mouth twisted in a nasty scowl.

“I caught him with my daughter.” 

Derek almost rolled his eyes at Scott. 

“Naturally I pulled my pistol on him, like any father would do, and his eyes gave him away.” 

“Will you leave him with me?” Derek asked. “I’ve been training him, so that’s probably what he meant by whose he was.” Derek prayed that Scott would have the sense not to contradict this. 

“In the mentoring business now, hmm?” Argent mocked. Then, serious again, “I want Peter. If he’s the Alpha, that’s the last thing this town needs.”

“I agree,” Derek said, registering the minuscule spark of surprise in Argent’s eye at this display of solidarity. 

“Scotty here is going to help me find him. And in return maybe I won’t kill him.” 

“That’s fair,” Derek declared, earning a panicked glance from Scott, which he ignored.

“But I have no idea where he is!” Scott cried out. “I don’t know how to find him!” 

“Leave him with me,” Derek urged again, his demeanor measured, careful. “And as soon as he’s ready, we’ll both help you find Peter.” There was a long pause.

“Or I could kill you both now,” Argent said, almost lightly. 

“But you won’t,” Derek countered. “You may hate us. But you’re an honorable man, and you won’t break the Code.” 

“Two weeks,” Argent said, his gritted teeth making his jaw tight. 

“Four,” Derek returned.

“Three. Final offer.” 

“Deal,” Derek said, holding his hand out to shake on it. Argent removed his hand from Scott’s shoulder and finally stepped away, lowering the gun. He took Derek’s offer with a firm grip.

“The day I’m shaking hands with a monster,” the hunter mused. “You’d best honor the Code. Three weeks with your little protege and you find me an Alpha to kill.” He began to turn away, then spun back towards Scott.

“And if you go near my daughter again, I’m removing a body part next time.” Then he walked away, three hunters detaching from the shadows they’d been shrunken into for the whole interview following him, all shooting Derek and Scott dirty looks as they passed. 

Derek reached out, snatched the front of Scott’s shirt in a strong grip, and dragged him forward into the loft, almost tossing him past him. He barely noticed the teen struggling to keep his feet under him while sliding the door shut with far more force than it required. He then took a few minutes to stare at the solid wood of the door and contemplate punching it before he turned around. 

He regarded Scott with a feral gleam, satisfied to see the guy rather humbled at least.

“Um, thank you,” Scott’s voice was higher than usual, the tone unsure. 

“How the fuck did you get yourself into that position?” was Derek’s enraged reply. “Do you know who that was?!” 

“The hunters?” with an uneasy squint and a wrinkled nose. 

“Yeah.” Derek breathed the word out heavily as he passed Scott to head to the couch. The teen still had the smell of fear clinging to him, and the mixture of adrenaline and relief, a heady cocktail that Derek relished the whiff of. Scott followed him into the living room proper and settled on the edge of the arm of the sofa. Derek lived alone and didn’t have enough visitors to warrant extra seating. 

“I didn’t mean to cause you trouble,” Scott said. “I just couldn’t think of who else to go to.”

Derek had been studying the floor intently, nervous he’d get angrier, or something else, if he looked at Scott. He glanced up at him and away again as he answered.  
“That was _the_ hunter, Chris Argent,” he informed the teen. “And you decided to fool around with his daughter?!”

“I didn’t know!” Scott defended himself. 

“You would have had you listened to me the first time,” Derek said. You would have if I hadn’t been hiding the past few days, he berated himself. 

“Shouldn’t you get home to your mom? Won’t she be worried?” he asked Scott now, suddenly aware that it was after midnight.

“She’s got the night shift at the hospital tonight,” Scott shrugged, and slid his ass down to a couch cushion. This brought his knee almost within touching distance of Derek’s, and Derek could feel the body heat radiating off of the joint without even trying. He stood up and began to pace. 

“I am glad you got him to bring you here,” he conceded, half thinking out loud. “But he will be watching every move we make. You have caused Argent to mark us both.” 

“Did you…” Scott began, making Derek look up at him with a curious crinkle in his heavy brow. “Did you just sell out another werewolf to keep me safe?” Derek closed his eyes and exhaled, the extent of how little Scott knew washing over him. He went back to sit on the couch, as far away from the younger man as he could get, and leaned back. This was going to be a long conversation. 

Some time later, “So your uncle is my Alpha? And Argent, Allison’s dad, wants to kill him why?” 

“Because he turned you. That, and he’s a raging, psychotic menace.”

“But he doesn’t want to kill me. Well, for the werewolf thing anyway. Why not?” Scott paused. “Cause of the Code,” he answered his own question. 

“Right. Which is why you have to honor the Code, now more than ever, and learn control.”

“In three weeks,” Scott wrapped up. “Then it’s probably not good that I’m having dreams about killing people. At least I think they’re just dreams.” Derek groaned and put his head between his hands. What had he gotten himself involved in? 

The older werewolf let Scott talk himself out, reassuring him that unless he was waking up with blood under his fingernails or different colored wolf eyes, then he hadn’t murdered anyone yet. Scott seemed about to ask what eye color had to do with it, but his speech slurred and his head finally lost the fight it had been waging not to droop onto the back of the couch. Derek watched the teen sleep for a few moments, thinking he really should wake him up and send him home, then he silently rose and dimmed the lights, heading off to his bedroom. 

As he lay in his bed, he contemplated all the things he had to impart to Scott in a short amount of time. He supposed he’d never thought about what it must be like to be a new werewolf. He’d grown up like this, in a family of them, and his chance of having a true Beta in Paige failed spectacularly and painfully. Like much else in his life. Derek rolled over, staring up at the ceiling. Then he got up, peeling one of the blankets from his bed as he went. 

Scott’s body had slumped diagonally downwards on the couch and he didn’t look like he’d wake up comfortable. Despite this, Derek would not touch him. He was a big boy; he’d figure it out. The older werewolf felt awkward enough spreading the blanket over the teen, especially when one corner of Scott’s mouth lazily turned up in unconscious appreciation of the proffered comfort. Derek turned away to head back to bed before he would have stood there all night, his heart squeezing strangely in his chest. 


	4. Chapter 4

Derek kept all of his senses tuned in as he inspected his old family home. He’d long ago gotten used to the charred taste of the burned wood on the roof of his mouth and the shrill but lilting birdsong of the feathered invaders of what was left of the attic. But he needed to know if there was anything fresher; specifically if he and Scott would be safe from Peter here. He rather hated to use such an obvious location for training but he knew this terrain, and it’s not as if he and Scott could spar in the local gym. 

He sensed when the young werewolf was half a mile away and got into position. He was pleased to see Scott approach cautiously, sniffing the air and seeming to peer around studiously. But his footsteps were loud on the leaves and he didn’t think to look up.

With a full throated roar, Derek flung himself out of one of the trees that stood in what passed for the house’s front lawn and landed on Scott heavily. He felt the teen shift under him, the primal smell of wolf mingling with his human scent as Scott growled back. His head jerked back in an attempt to connect with Derek’s face, a move that the experienced werewolf easily dodged. He dug his claws into Scott’s shoulders cruelly, wanting to force the boy to use all of his resources to fight back. 

Derek ended up being relatively impressed; as far as he knew, the only fights the kid had been in was the two skirmishes he and Scott had gotten involved in the few days after Scott’s turning. Now he twisted and turned and bit and kicked like a wolf, and though he was still woefully ineffective with actually overpowering his opponent, Derek could tell he had potential. He jumped off of Scott, landing gracefully on all fours, blood flowing from a gash on his cheek and a deep cut on his arm.

Scott was on his feet immediately as well, eyes blazing gold and a growl still directed at Derek. His claws twitched as if he wanted to tackle the older werewolf.

“Easy, hotshot,” Derek said, and had to smile in spite of himself when Scott snarled at him. He shifted back so the teen could see there was no longer a threat, and watched as Scott slowly did the same.

“Not bad,” he told his student. 

“You attacked me!” Scott accused, wincing and wiping blood from his bicep and inspecting his ripped tee. 

“It’s nothing personal,” Derek said. Then, catching Scott’s eye, he smirked and asked him, “It’s kinda fun though, isn’t it?” The teen paused as if thinking about it, then a smile spread over his own face.

“Yeah, it is,” he agreed. 

They spent the next two hours essentially beating each other up, moving equally between the open area of the woods and the confines of the house, Scott learning how to use each to his advantage. Derek was especially proud when the younger man was able to pick him up and fling him through what was left of the living room wall, and after a moment of laying there stunned, he started laughing as Scott offered his hand, back to human shape, to help him out of the rubble. 

“This is great!” Scott crowed, the adrenaline rushing through him as he threw himself down next to the house, leaning his back up against the foundation. He had to give his broken collarbone and twisted ankle a chance to heal. Derek eased himself down to the ground as well, appreciating the sensation of his ribs fusing their cracks back together and admiring the deep bite wound Scott had left on his thigh. 

Both panting a little, the two looked at each other and shared a chuckle. There was something about hand to hand combat that nurtured camaraderie. Both werewolves were covered in blood and healing bruises. Derek’s shirt had long been shredded off and his jeans were gashed in an imitation of a rock star’s stage clothes. Neither wore anything on their feet any longer, Scott’s trainers and Derek’s boots lost who knew where. Scott’s track pants were amazingly only ripped in a few places but they were filthy. His tee shirt was a mere excuse of a rag that he now tore the remains of off his body without bothering to pull it over his head. 

Derek caught the movement and looked over, his eyes widening slightly at the exposed teen’s chest, the sheen of sweat and patterns of dried blood on the tanned skin, the elastic band of the track pants riding low on the slim hips and the sliver of a waistband of underwear peeking out. Derek averted his gaze swiftly, hoping if Scott was paying attention to his heartbeat he would just blame the sparring. He reached up and rubbed the sweat off the back of his own neck, doing his best to ignore the heat crawling up his skin. 

“I’m doing pretty good, aren’t I?” Scott asked with eagerness.

“Not bad,” Derek said again, not wanting the youngling to get over confident. He looked over enough to see the teen squint his eyes at him. “No, you are doing well,” he granted him. “Not like I’m the strongest thing you’ll ever have to fight, but it’s a start.” 

“You’re not bad yourself though,” Scott said, blatantly eyeing Derek’s decent sized biceps. This should not cause a stutter in one’s chest, Derek told himself. He knew he had a well sculpted body that many males would be jealous off, the product of a lonely life and long hours available to work out and avoid thinking. 

All of a sudden, now that the adrenaline had worn off and they were no longer in constant motion, Derek could be aware of Scott’s body and presence in a way he wasn’t while they’d had their hands and bodies all over each other while fighting. As well as how isolated they were out here in the preserve, with no one else around.

“So where’s your shadow?” Derek asked, somehow actually missing Stiles and his comic relief and chaperonage. Scott’s head tilted in a question, and damn if he didn’t make Derek think of an adorable, inquisitive puppy when he did that.

“Stiles,” he prompted. “Does he finally trust me as far as he can throw me? Not like that would be far,” he added with amusement, making Scott smile. He did like to make the boy smile. 

“I told him about last night,” Scott said. “How you saved me from Argent. So he doesn’t hate you as much as he did, at least.”

“I merely struck a deal,” Derek said, trying to sound detached. He didn’t want to give the kid the wrong idea, or maybe it was the right idea. Any idea. No ideas of anything more than mentor and student, Derek settled on. Yeah, he already knew it was too late for that. 

“But what’s in it for you?” Scott asked now. “What’s in any of this for you? Teaching me, mentoring me? You could just let me figure it out on my own and if I get killed I get killed.” He was too astute to hide much from, Derek decided. 

“For one thing, a rogue werewolf hurts all of our kind. It threatens the Code we have with the hunters, makes them think we’re all bad.” He paused, unsure if he should finish his thought. His gaze had become distracted by a patch of small brown mushrooms growing next to where he sat on the grass, and the focal point helped him speak more freely than looking at that lithe body near him could. 

“And I like you,” he told Scott. “It’s...kind of nice to have a friend.” He paused, not wanting to overstep a boundary, or appear as if he needed anyone. Derek Hale didn’t need a damn soul. “If...that’s what we are,” he added quickly. 

“Yeah, I guess we are. That’s cool,” Scott said slowly, simply. Derek finally looked up at him, wanting to put meaning into his next words.

“And I also think you have serious potential to be a powerful werewolf,” he shared with him. 

“Really?” Scott’s face lighting up like a Christmas tree at Derek’s nod made a strange sort of warmth curl up in the older man’s chest. 

“So tell me more about these hunters,” Scott then changed the subject and Derek gladly followed, able to gain more solid mental ground as he related the history that he knew of the hunters in Beacon Hills.

As the days and the training sessions went on, Scott gained knowledge and skills at an incredible rate, and Derek was losing his composure at almost the same rate. When he’d started this venture, he hadn’t expected to actually become friends with Scott, but he was learning that Scott was the kind of warm hearted person that it was hard not to be friends with. In Derek’s estimation, this could be construed as a weakness to the wrong crowd, but that was the crowd that the older werewolf was used to dealing with. That’s why it was refreshing to spend time around Scott, to have someone to joke and laugh with, someone who made Derek feel special when he came racing up the hill to the preserve to spar or chat with him, soaking in this new world that he could only fully share with Derek. 

The werewolf knew he was playing with fire. Every time he realized he was staring at his young student a beat too long, every time he made sure he stepped downwind so Scott wouldn’t smell any desire on him, every time he made sure Scott went home at night so he could get some sleep himself instead of laying there thinking about the boy out on his couch, he knew he was in the wrong. If people only knew; it was bad enough that plenty of the townspeople thought he was a murderer. If they got an idea that he was a pedophile, he’d be chased out with pitchforks. Not that he hadn’t been chased with worse.

Derek had to try not to hate himself. He knew what it was like to be seduced by an older predator when he’d been about Scott’s age. How could he even look at him that way? But was he really doing anything wrong? He reasoned that he wasn’t acting on anything, and that his iron control would ensure that he did not. Scott was safe with him; Derek would kill, and maybe die, to protect him, and did that make his attraction to the younger man better or worse? The fact that it wasn’t just physical, that Derek couldn’t just blindly admire Scott’s body and jerk off or find a random willing partner to take care of his needs and that was that. The fact that Derek’s stomach did a funny little flip when Scott’s eyes pulsed between his human brown and his wolf yellow, the way Scott’s smile made Derek feel like he belonged and that they were a team, how Derek, for all his training Scott in combat, loathed the thought of him ever having to be in a fight for his life. 


	5. Chapter 5

“You need an anchor. The full moon is three days away. An anchor, something or someone to focus on, to keep yourself, yourself,” Derek told his pupil. They were at his loft, the heavy rain and wind beating against the large arched window making practice outside disagreeable. These quieter lessons and just talking were as important as the sparring. 

“I know,” Scott said, with a touch of irritation. “I wanted it to be Allison.” Derek shook his head at the boy. He knew he’d continued seeing the Argent girl, against every one of Derek’s warnings, but he assured his mentor that they were being careful, that there was no way her family would find out. It was a mark of the soft spot Derek had developed for Scott that he continued having anything to do with him when the kid wanted to be that foolish. 

“Bad idea,” Derek said baldly. 

“Why?” This with an understandable touch of defensiveness. Oh, so many reasons, Derek wouldn’t even know where to start. And his own jealousy was not on that list. Definitely not. His face remained a cool mask as he settled on one. 

“She’s a distraction.”

“Well, yeah, of course she is, have you seen her?” Scott said stupidly, the tips of his ears flushing. The grip Derek held on the arm of the couch intensified. 

“I mean to your control,” he said, as evenly as he could. As he spoke, he dimly recognized the irony of the situation. But he was still in charge of himself, he argued. Nothing, not even this charming face and rakish hair and dancing eyes could make him lose that. Really. 

Scott heaved a sudden, anguished sigh.

“I just want to be a normal teenager!” he cried, and launched himself off the couch to go stand by the window and watch the rain lash the glass. “I don’t want to have to think about the full moon. I want to be able to date a pretty girl and not worry about killing her if I...get too excited…” Scott’s face turned red at this, and Derek tasted his embarrassment, sour on the tip of his tongue. He was far too keyed into the young man’s chemosignals. 

Derek’s heart went out to Scott, though he wasn’t sure what to say. He’d never been able to be a normal teenager himself and he did wish Scott had at least had a choice. If wishes were kisses, he thought, remembering that old song his grandmother used to sing. He allowed Scott to have a few moments alone with the rain, and himself a few moments alone with his thoughts, before he spoke again. 

“Maybe she can still be your anchor,” Derek conceded hesitantly. 

“No. I…almost bit her the last time we fooled around,” Scott admitted. “She dealt with it okay at the time, but...we’re kind of taking a break.” Something squirmed its way through Derek’s insides. Anger, or worry, or triumph. He wasn’t sure, but it was something. 

“I’m...sorry,” he found himself saying. This explained the moodiness Scott had been exhibiting the last couple of days and Derek hated seeing him suffer. A one shouldered shrug was the only answer. 

“What about Stiles?” Scott asked, turning back to the original subject. 

“That lunatic?” was Derek’s knee jerk response. “Didn’t he chain you to a radiator and give you water in a dog dish on the last full moon?” Scott had turned so that he was facing the older werewolf, leaning against the wall by the window. His face did that adorable scrunchy thing.

“He means well?” he said. Derek sighed gently. For all of his ineloquence and unorthodox ways, Stiles did seem like a true friend that Scott could count on no matter what. Derek had seen enough to develop a grudging respect for the boys’ friendship. He didn’t want to discount the idea if he was the best option.

“What about you?” Scott asked now, his expression brightening. Derek looked over at him, eyes widening, a rush of air leaving his lungs. 

“Um,” he said helpfully. How had they gotten here, from Allison to him? Derek tried to retrace the steps of the conversation, but his brain seemed to be short circuiting. 

“We haven’t really known each other very long. It’d be one thing if I was your Alpha,” he chose this as the safest answer. And watched Scott’s shoulders droop slightly. Derek thought furiously, and tried to slow his heartbeat. It wasn’t the worst idea he’d heard of, if he was being impartially honest, if he could be at all impartial anymore. The two had become friends, one could argue good friends, and it was flattering that Scott felt he could depend on him. But to develop the kind of bond that would be required and strong enough to be someone’s anchor; that was a dangerous road to go down. Scott might be able to let someone in that easily, he was young and trusting enough. Derek, on the other hand, was scarred and skittish, not the most stable person for a job like that. Rather Stiles by far. Scott’s next words did nothing to put Derek at ease.

“Why couldn’t you be my Alpha?” the younger werewolf said, almost forlornly, and Derek swore he felt the floor swim beneath him. He tried not to let himself imagine what it might feel like to have Scott as his Beta, to have that nigh unbreakable bond with him that an Alpha and a bitten Beta shared. For better or worse, Scott was tied to Peter like that, not him, and when Peter came calling for him, Scott would go, no matter what the boy thought right now, no matter the attachment he’d seemed to have inexplicably developed to Derek. Unless the hunters took down Peter first, and Derek knew the odds of that happening were nil. He’d known that when he’d agreed to help them hunt him, but he figured he’d let them figure that out on their own. 

“Scott…” Derek got out. “It - doesn’t work like that.”

“I know,” said Scott, resigned. A pause. “But you could still be my anchor. I should probably be with you on the full moon anyway, you’d be able to stop me if I do lose it.” Derek couldn’t find a real argument for this, though he knew he’d be putting himself in even more precarious of a position. 

“Is your mother okay with as much time as you’ve been spending with me?” Derek asked. He knew Scott was quick about replying to his mother’s texts when he got them, but he had to wonder if the woman didn’t think it strange that her son was hanging around a man seven years older than him.

“Yeah,” Scott said, then elaborated. “I mean, she works a lot. She lets me be pretty free. She trusts me.” 

“You haven’t told her about me, have you?” Derek asked in that tone that said he knew the answer.

“She trusts me,” Scott said again. “How would I tell her about you without telling her everything?” He had a point. What reason would be logical for the two of them to have become friends otherwise? Derek didn’t feel right about being kept essentially a secret from the kid’s mother; it made this whole thing seem even more wrong. But he wasn’t sure there was much that could make it right regardless. 

“The lacrosse field is going to be soaked tomorrow,” Scott remarked, wandering back to the couch. “Going to be harder to play.”

“You’ll be fine,” Derek told him. “You’ve gotten a lot better since the whole supernatural speed and agility thing has kicked in right?” He happened to already know this was the case, he’d made sure to be at the last game. 

With a half smile, “Yeah I guess so.” Then the teen’s face grew serious. “You really think I’m okay to play? With the full moon so close?” Derek let himself look Scott full in the face, needing to calm the worry he could feel rising off of him.

“You’ve come a long way with your control,” he told him. “I have faith in you.” Scott gave him a grateful smile, melting a piece of Derek’s heart that he didn’t even know still existed.

“I’m still nervous though,” Scott shared. 

Fuck it, thought Derek, and he asked, “Would it help if I was there?”

Scott’s prediction was accurate and the field was still wet but at least the bleachers had dried. Derek, wearing an uncharacteristic ball cap and pull over hoodie in hopes of not being recognized, sidled down the rows, thinking he would find an out of the way corner to watch the game from. So far he hadn’t noticed any strange looks but there weren’t too many people here yet. Last time he had hung in the shadows far back from the field, close enough to be able to use his wolf sight to make sure Scott didn’t go berserk but far enough away to not be seen by anybody. He felt exposed even under the hat and hoodie, social events not being his forte. But tonight he wanted Scott to have no doubt he was there, and yeah, maybe he wanted to see the guy play up close.

He paid attention to each person that filed into the bleachers, his survival instincts in high gear. There shouldn’t be anything to worry about at a high school lacrosse game, but in Beacon Hills one never knew. He spotted Allison Argent sitting with a haughty looking red haired girl and tried not to grimace. And the local sheriff was here; great. Oh that’s right, he was Stiles’s father and Stiles had finally made the team. Derek remembered Scott sharing the news with him as if Stiles had already won the championship single-handedly. 

Then a tall woman with fuzzy brown hair walked in front of Derek’s row and took a seat down front. Derek smelled something horribly familiar about her, like she was a part of someone he knew, and he realized who she must be. He left his spot and casually took a seat on the bench next to the woman, noting the pride in her eyes and scent. Between the cheers for the players entering the field and actual game play starting, Derek twisted towards Scott’s mother and gave her a charming but tame smile. 

“You must be Scott McCall’s mom,” he said warmly, and held out his hand. The woman looked over at him, her smile cautious but she consented to shake his hand. 

“Derek,” he introduced himself, hoping leaving out his last name would prevent the associations his family was cursed with. 

“Hi,” she said, an uncertain wrinkle in her brow that looked just like Scott’s wrinkle. “Melissa,” she told him.

“Nice to meet you. I’ve been working with Scott, helping him train and practice. You must be very proud of him.” Melissa grinned back at Derek, assuming, as he’d hoped, that he was talking about mentoring Scott in lacrosse. Well, he hadn’t technically lied and he was unwilling to continue being around Scott without his mother being somewhat aware. He was not a creep. 

Derek noticed Stiles notice him first from across the field, and the boy jabbed his elbow into his best friend’s side to get his attention. Just as Melissa leaned in to say something to Derek, Scott looked over and took in the scene, his eyes going wide. Derek, without thinking, shot him a wink. 

“Do you think we’ll actually win?” Melissa was asking.

“Oh I have no doubt,” Derek replied. Then the game began and there was no more attention left for small talk as the teams both went for the jugular, tearing up the turf and giving no quarter. Of the limited games he’d watched Derek had never seen one more fast paced and he had to keep a close eye on Scott to keep up. Often his number eleven jersey was merely a blur as he dodged and swerved like a dervish but not, hopefully, too much like a werewolf. The closest Derek caught him to wolfing out was when a douchebag named Whittemore got in his face, but he reigned himself in, and Derek had rarely been prouder of him. 

The Beacon Hills Cyclones won twelve to four. 


	6. Chapter 6

He heard them coming, but they still managed to kick his ass. There were three of them, after all, and one of him, and one of them was  _ her _ . He’d been working out at the old house, and wondering how much longer the town was actually going to let the dilapidated thing stand, how much longer he’d be able to haunt it, when they’d burst in the front door. He could hear the two men joking about dogs, giving their presence away easily. Kate was smarter, of course, she stayed quiet until Derek had taken down the other two, not without earning some blunt force trauma to the head and a cracked rib or two. 

It was at this point, while he leaned heavily on the ruins of the banister in the living room, that the woman who’d broken Derek’s heart and maybe his soul made herself known.

“Well, someone’s grown up nicely,” came a purr, and Kate stalked her way towards him, long legs, leather jacket, and tousled dirty blond hair not much changed from what he remembered. Once upon a time, he’d thought she cared about him, that he was the special exception to her hatred of his kind, that he could get her to leave her family’s legacy behind. And all it had been to her was a game, a gathering of information. She was an Argent, a cold hearted hunter through and through, a piercing lesson for a teenager who wanted to believe in love, who couldn’t help but be attracted to this stunning older woman who wanted him. 

They’d certainly had some good times, and amazing sex, and when she turned on him, it made it harder to believe none of it was sincere. She’d not only burned down his family home, and much of his family with it, but she’d had the nerve to comfort him afterwards, as if she knew nothing. Even when she had to leave town under the guise of work, and not running from the charges of arson, he believed her, and went to visit her in various cities across the country, spending steamy weekends in New York, Chicago, New Orleans, wherever she happened to be when she got the itch for her wolf. Derek would come running, needing the distraction from the pain of losing his home and his family and still in love even though he was beginning to doubt how healthy the situation was. He offered multiple times to stay with Kate, asked her, begged in fact, needing some stability in his torn apart life. 

Eventually she tired of this, and confessed her crime with a joyous gleam in her eye. She had photographs of the fire and talked about it in intimate detail. Derek’s world finished crumbling that day, and with his heart bleeding and his mind twisted he’d somehow managed to survive as more or less a lone wolf for two years now. He and his sister Laura kept in touch, but she had settled in a cabin in Maine, as far from Beacon Hills as she could get. Derek would go visit her, but his pain and self loathing chased him back to the only home he’d known. He  _ had _ grown a lot in those few years; grown cold, and hard, and strong. Kate may have broken him, but he had used that to his advantage the best he’d been able to. 

Now she’d come back, and she was staring at him with that familiar hunger in her smoky eyes, and Derek’s body wanted to respond in spite of his mind and heart. He’d had other women since her, of course, and one man; he had no trouble finding willing partners in bed. But her intense touches had been the first of that kind he’d known, her body was the one that had opened to him the most. That sort of thing left its mark. 

“What do you want?” he ground out, his hatred of her overpowering any carnal memories that in the end, had just been a cheap thrill to her. 

“Aww,” she breathed, drawing closer to him, and pitching her already sexy voice low, “My wolfie doesn’t want to play anymore?”

“Fuck off,” Derek growled in return, even as he saw the railroad tie she’d been holding behind her back flash. The next moment, it was speared through his left side, the sharp end piercing internal organs and re-emerging out of his back. Derek’s knees gave out as he screamed in pain, forcing Kate to bend over him, refusing to let go. 

“I know you always liked it rough, Baby,” Kate said, barely breaking a sweat. And she twisted the stake in his body, making him scream again and half shift. Derek’s irises glowed brilliant blue as he fantasized about ripping Kate’s throat out. If she wasn’t a sharp and strong hunter that knew how to defend herself better than anybody, he liked to think he would have done so already. 

“I got a call from my brother,” Kate said, still holding the tie firmly in place, a cruel smile playing on her lips. Her makeup hadn’t even smudged. “Seems my niece is ready to learn the family trade. Heard she was starting to hang out with the wrong sort. And we don’t want her to make the same mistakes I did, do we?” For this last jab, her voice was high, a mocking version of an innocent little girl’s lilt as she batted her lashes for good measure. 

Derek was unable to answer, the pain shooting through him. He tried to gather the strength to lift his arms enough to grasp the stake but he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to manage it. His shirtless torso was a sheen of cold sweat and though he tried to relax his muscles so it would hurt less, they insisted on remaining taut. Then Kate pushed the tie in another inch. Derek struggled to not scream again, black spots beginning to swim in his vision. 

“Honestly I don’t care what Allison does with your little pup,” Kate said, back to her cold hunter’s tone. “I’ll be training her to kill him. The rest is up to her. And if you get in the way, we’ll kill you too.” And with that, and a hearty grunt, she yanked back on the railroad tie, finally releasing the metal from Derek’s body. He collapsed onto his back, only able to hope she wasn’t going to kill him now; she’d weakened him enough for a fatal blow, especially since he could hear the two hunters she’d come with stirring. 

“The Code,” he was able to force out, his eyes closing. The floor was almost comfortable. 

“Oh yeah,” Kate said callously, “That’s more my brother’s thing anymore. I think it’s time for an update.” 

Derek finally passed out.

When he came to, he assumed he hadn’t been out long, as the shadows from the sun coming in the broken windows hadn’t moved considerably. And the hole in his side was still bleeding, though the pain had decreased somewhat. He couldn’t hear or smell anyone else, and thanked the gods for that. 

Derek mustered the strength he’d been able to gather and forced himself into a sitting position. He watched the blood trickle faster out of the wound, but he knew bleeding wasn’t necessarily bad, as long as it wasn’t too much. He preferred to be sitting up and able to see his surroundings. 

He heard somebody approaching the house, running, and he realized it was a footfall he knew well. 

“Derek?!” Scott called, an edge of panic in his voice. Surely he’d smelled the blood a mile away. Kate had been courteous enough to close the door on her way out, and now it crashed open again. Derek saw his friend rush into the room, relief that he didn’t have to be alone right now trickling through him. 

Scott was on his knees on the floor next to Derek in an instant, his beautiful face twisted in fear as he stared at the hole in Derek’s side. 

“It’s okay,” Derek told him, teeth gritted against the pain, trying to be a little tougher for Scott’s sake. “It’ll heal. I think.” It hadn’t been in his body long enough and it wasn’t laced with anything that he could feel. If Kate had wanted to deal him a fatal wound, she would have, and this wasn’t one. But fuck, did it hurt, and the blood kept seeping out even as Scott held his hands against it, not thinking twice of how he was getting covered in it too. 

“Shouldn’t you lie down?” he asked. “I should take you to the hospital.” Derek managed a weak grin.

“Our kind can’t go to the hospital,” he reminded him. Scott nodded briskly, then abruptly got to his feet and ran back out the door. Derek wondered if this was just too much for him to bear, but then the boy was back in a moment, carrying two bottles of water and a roll of paper towels. He must have his mom’s car. The bleeding was slowly stopping, and as soon as it did, Scott cleaned the edges of the wound, studying the hole carefully, making Derek ashamed he’d had the momentary thought that he couldn’t handle it. He made sure the older werewolf drank the other bottle of water.

“Is it healing?” Scott asked.

“Slowly,” Derek reassured him, a wave of thankfulness suddenly crashing through him that Scott had shown up and was, well, nursing him. He was used to laying in a corner by himself and figuratively if not literally licking his own wounds. The pain was already starting to subside. 

Scott was crouching behind him, a hand on his shoulder as if to help hold him up. Derek didn’t need the assistance but didn’t have the heart to tell Scott to move. The kid seemed so worried and his presence certainly was comforting. 

“That’s a really awesome tattoo,” Scott said, and Derek realized he must have been staring at the triskele symbol while he’d been back there. He welcomed the distraction from feeling his organs throb and attempt to mend.

“It stands for Alpha, Beta, Omega,” he shared. “The spirals are all identical because one can always become another. In the end no one is better than another.” 

“Really?” Scott asked, his hand shifting over to lay flat against the skin next to the tattoo, as if he was studying it closely. For all its meaning, it was a simple design and Scott’s palm was warm and Derek wondered why it was there. Not that he was complaining, but…

“I belief that,” he said. “That no person, or wolf, is better than another. Stronger, perhaps, more likely to win a fight, but while that might win them Alpha, it doesn’t make them better. Status in a pack can definitely shift, but I don’t believe that means their value does. Not everyone thinks that,” he finished in warning. He felt Scott soak this information in, the only sounds the quiet rustling of leaves in the trees outside and some birdsong. 

“I want a tattoo,” Scott said.

“You’re not old enough yet.” Derek managed a tiny chuckle. The boy’s hand continued to rest on his skin and Derek was feeling a little heady. 

“I’m almost seventeen,” he answered stolidly. 

“Still a minor,” Derek told Scott, and himself. That hand was  _ still _ hot on his back. Derek should move, he should definitely lean forward, away from Scott. He’d healed enough to where he could move a little. He didn’t move. 

Then, mercifully, Scott’s hand lifted off of his skin and Derek was able to breathe again. A questionable luxury which was abruptly halted when the touch was back, a tingling sensation in the form of Scott’s fingers, tracing along the swirls of the tattoo design between his shoulder blades. Derek couldn’t hope to hide the goose bumps this raised over his entire torso or the erratic beats his heart began fumbling through. He felt Scott’s warm breath ghost over his shoulder and he closed his eyes, his resolve to fight his body’s reactions weakening. 

“Cool.” 

Scott’s voice was low, somehow appreciative and intrigued at the same time. Derek could smell the admiration coming off of him, and he sensed it had grown for more than just the tattoo. He still couldn’t bring himself to move away, though his brain screamed at him that he should, especially when those fingers began traveling down the ridges of his spine. Derek made his lungs work. He could feel Scott’s concentration on him, and he’d never felt more precariously on display. His blood was hot and cold at the same time.

“Why are you so nervous?” Scott almost whispered. Derek opened his eyes a crack, hoping it would help him regain some control.

“Because…”

“This is wrong,” was what he was going to say, he swore it was. He swore he was going to stop Scott’s hand. But now there were two hands, warm and soothing, moving across his whole back, and one was down by the remains of the wound on his side, just below his lowermost rib and that touch was so gentle, far more gentle than he’d thought the teen might be capable of, not that he’d thought about it, no. Now Scott was caressing his wound, and it felt so much better, and Derek leaned into it without thinking further. 

“Does that feel good?” Scott asked, and Derek wryly thought that might be the understatement of the century, but he wasn’t sure he could form that many words.

“Mmhm,” came out instead, and he closed his eyes again. If he didn’t look at Scott, if he didn’t respond too much, if he kept himself in check, this wasn’t so bad. Scott was doing this on his own, and surely he would be done in a moment. Derek knew he should stop him, of course, but while he might be supernatural, he wasn’t perfect. He kept his own hands resolutely on his own thighs, determined not to let them move.

“Derek,” Scott’s voice came again, even lower this time, with his infuriating hands gently moving up the older werewolf’s sides. 

“Hmm?” Derek breathed.

“You’re really hot,” was the reply, Scott’s voice almost shaky. All the breath left Derek’s lungs and he finally shifted his shoulders, only succeeding in assisting the slide of those hands along his skin. Scott was getting dangerously close to slipping an arm around Derek’s front and starting to caress his abs. Derek could feel the heat of the boy’s body closer behind him than it had been. 

“Scott,” he forced out, and unsuccessfully fought against a shiver as a thumb came entirely too close to his right nipple. 

“You need to stop,” he said, one of the hardest things he’d ever say. Scott’s hands paused in their movements, but he didn’t pull them away, and now they were simply radiating heat into Derek’s body where they rested, one on his side just above his left hip and the other curling around his wide right bicep. He felt Scott’s breath on the back of his neck, hot and close, and he was half expecting the teen’s lips to descend on the spot. It felt like Scott was thinking. Derek heard him swallow, a wet sound that did nothing to help Derek’s arousal. 

“Is it really that wrong?” Scott asked in a whisper, his tone balanced between innocent and seductive. If it had only been innocent, Derek later told himself he would have gotten up, leaped up from the floor and made Scott leave. Gods, at least he hoped he would have done that. 

His breath started coming in short gasps, his lungs tired of the inconsistent airflow. 

“Relax,” Scott told him. Of course he was able to feel and hear and smell every little thing Derek’s body did... 

“It’s okay. You’re safe with me.” And then Scott was hugging him, kneeling with his body pressing against Derek’s back, his arms wrapping around his stomach and chest, his hair tickling Derek’s ear, and his cheek soft on his shoulder. 

And Derek caved. He’d rarely been held like this, with so much affection and protection, and his soul reached out for it hungrily. He allowed himself to relax into the hug and to bring his hands up to hang on Scott’s arms latched around him. He almost felt a prickling behind his tightly closed eyelids. Scott’s words echoed in his head; he was safe with him. But wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around, wasn’t Derek Scott’s protector? 

They stayed like that for a long time, only moving once when Scott shifted slightly to the right, enough to straighten his head so that his chin was now resting sharply on Derek’s shoulder muscle. Derek didn’t mind. He could tell Scott was thinking about turning his head and kissing his cheek the whole time they sat that way, and Derek found he was giddy with the unknown anticipation of it. Of course Scott could feel this and perhaps that’s why he didn’t do it, as evidenced by the most playful light Derek had ever seen in those gorgeous brown eyes once they finally got up from the hard floor. 

The older werewolf looked down at himself, taking inventory of his state of healing. Nothing looked hurt or felt remotely sore, though he knew that railroad tie must have pierced his stomach, pancreas, small intestine, and possibly a kidney. He’d never healed from something that severe so quickly, and he stared at Scott in gratitude. The teen just smiled warmly back. 

Derek opened his arms and Scott stepped into them almost automatically. As they wrapped each other in a now reciprocal hug, Derek relished the way the younger man’s body fit into his embrace. He really didn’t want to let go, perhaps go back to his loft and hold Scott all night...he pulled his mind out of fantasy land as Scott stepped back. There was a sudden golden flash in the younger werewolf’s eyes and Derek experienced a stab of fear that somehow he’d done something wrong, gone too far.

“Now. Who the fuck did that to you?” Scott hissed, an anger Derek hadn’t known the boy could possess sparking off of him. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brace yourself for fluff. And here's where The Lion King references finally come in lol

“We can’t just go kill them,” Derek said as a still keyed up Scott paced in his living room. 

“Yeah we can.” Scott was teenage obstinacy at its finest. “After what she did to you?”

“She’s done worse,” Derek let slip, then winced. He had no intention of letting Scott in on exactly how Kate had used him, at least for as long as he could. Not only did he want to leave the sordid details in the past for his own sake, he didn’t want upstanding, still-somewhat-innocent Scott exposed to ugly truths of life like that until he had to be. And maybe Derek didn’t want him to think less of him for all of it. 

“It was a long time ago,” he said, in a tone that would brook no argument. 

“What good is being a werewolf if you can’t punish people who do things like that?” Scott asked in frustration. “If we can’t fight back?” 

Derek wanted to hug Scott again, badly. The kid was so upset over what had happened, he wasn’t being himself. It wasn’t like Scott McCall to talk about killing and punishing, and Derek was touched that he was this worked up over something happening to him. But it also worried him, especially with the full moon tomorrow night. He would have to stay with him after all so he could make sure he didn’t act on any of this anger. 

  
  


As soon as Scott opened the door, without Derek even having to knock, the older man noticed. He didn’t think it had been possible for the guy to get hotter. 

“You cut your hair,” Derek remarked stupidly. The shag was gone and the remaining shortness had the effect of streamlining Scott’s face, exposing his delectably rounded ears, making him look sleeker. And a bit older. Derek hoped he wasn’t staring.

“You like it?” Scott asked casually. 

“Uh…” Derek stammered, “It...it’s nice.” Was that a tiny smirk that Scott was trying to hide as he turned his head? Derek couldn’t help sneaking another glance as they walked towards the car side by side, as if he wouldn’t have plenty of time to look at him today. 

Scott snatched the car keys out of the air easily as they sailed towards him, then shot Derek a confused look. The older werewolf grinned widely at him. Scott’s eyebrows rose.

“Yeah. Why not?” Derek said in reply and walked over to the passenger side of his sleek black Camaro for a change. Scott slid into the driver’s seat, his face glowing, looking very much like he belonged there, wearing his new leather jacket that suspiciously resembled one that Derek owned.

“Dude. I don’t know if I can do this,” Scott said, his voice making it clear that he very much wanted to, but he also very much didn’t want to wreck the expensive car. 

“You’re a licensed driver in the state of California, correct?” Derek said. “Then I’m pretty sure you can, in fact, do this.” 

Scott turned the key in the ignition and the V8 roared spectacularly to life, and Scott’s eyes almost went wolfy with excitement. He ran his fingers lovingly over the steering wheel, making Derek a little jealous of the steering wheel. 

He was relishing how much the teen was enjoying this already. Letting Scott drive his car was one of the distractions that Derek had devised to keep the teen’s mind off the full moon looming later, the first one that he would try to not shift for. It was asking a lot out of a new werewolf, to not change for only their second full moon. But he’d promised Scott he would help him through it, realizing that he had resigned himself to being his anchor. It was really hard to tell the guy no.

Scott was careful with the car, as Derek had known he would be, having to be urged to open up the throttle when they got on the highway. He asked Scott if he could go anywhere, where it would be? It was the weekend and they had all day. The answer rather surprised him.

“The zoo?” Derek checked.

“Yeah, I haven’t been since a field trip in first grade.” 

“The wheel’s yours,” Derek said with a small nod.

Derek didn’t usually like going out in public and doing  _ things _ and as the two strolled down the wide paved path of the zoo just outside Beacon Hills he remembered why. For one thing, there were too many people out here. Even on a Saturday, without groups of squalling school children invading the place, there were still a lot of families, a lot of commotion, a lot of smells, a lot of noise. And though it wasn’t as bad by far as it would have been had they stayed in town, there were one or two looks he garnered from a curious eye on if he was that guy, that guy that was a victim of the fire years ago, that guy that had been charged with murder but acquitted but who really knew. He was used to and could block out most of it, but this was definitely outside of his comfort zone. 

Watching Scott helped, his young handsome face lighting up in amusement at the monkeys’ antics or slack jawed in awe at the size of the anaconda. The rain forest’s nocturnal room was an unexpected treat, as the two werewolves were able to discreetly adjust their eyes and observe the animals that the human visitors couldn’t. Perhaps coming to the zoo had some perks, Derek thought, but making Scott happy was certainly at the top of the list that made putting himself through a public attraction worth it. 

“Wait, we’re not going to be tempted to start chasing down and eating the antelope or anything are we?” Scott asked, his steps slowing as they made their way to the African section. At this, Derek came to a full stop, making Scott turn to look at him. The older man’s face was wry and he blinked twice, very slowly, at his companion. 

“Well, you see, Simba...” Derek started, his tone serious, but the corners of his lips were begging to twitch upwards. “The great circle of life moves us all,” and halfway through this latter he couldn’t hold back the snicker. Scott rolled his eyes hard, his grin wide and carefree and it made Derek’s heart lighter just being near it.

“Don’t worry,” the older werewolf tried to act serious again, “If you start to get the urge I’ll jump in the enclosure after you and stop you,” he said, his eyes sparkling with mirth. Scott snorted and shook his head. 

“I don’t know!” he said in defense. “I don’t know how much the wolf side fully influences us yet.” They began walking again. 

“Okay, yeah, to be fair, it is fun to hunt every once in awhile,” Derek admitted. “We are predators. But it’s different, we’re human too. I prefer my food cooked.” He paused, then added, wrinkling his nose,“Besides, herd animals kept like this don’t smell appetizing at all.” This earned another laugh from Scott, a sound that Derek never got tired of hearing.

“So what’s your favorite prey?” Scott asked as they drew close to the elephant enclosure.

“Rabbit,” Derek replied swiftly, making his brain behave. 

“Will you take me hunting sometime?” the younger werewolf then asked. Seriously, how could Derek say no to that endearing face?

Scott raced toward the big cat section, eager as everyone always is to see the lions and tigers, leopards and cheetahs. It was like he just could be a kid for a few hours and it was beautiful to observe. There was a stunning male lion lounging on his rock in the middle of the enclosure, his small pride resting in the surrounding grass as Derek and Scott walked up to the railing. One by one, with the male first, each of the lions lifted their heads towards the viewing dock and stared, causing excited zoo goers to grab for their cameras and ooh and ahh. In the hubbub of activity and sound, Derek leaned towards Scott to speak low.

“Don’t stare at him like that,” he warned him. Scott’s eyes averted from the lion; he’d been admiring the handsome animal as a matter of course.

“You mean…?”

“Yeah, they know us for what we are,” Derek confirmed. “Or at least that we’re more than human.” His companion looked thoughtful for a moment. 

Then, “Thought I was Simba,” Scott shot with a smirk and an affected injured cockiness. Derek let his hand shoot out to swipe at the teen’s new haircut, originally meaning it to be a friendly ruffle but it unintentionally turned into a more of a caress. Scott ducked away, trying to look annoyed. 

“Hey, man, don’t mess with the mane,” he said before stepping close next to Derek again. The older werewolf couldn’t help it; he lifted an arm and lightly draped it across Scott’s shoulders as they continued on, loose enough that the teen could easily and casually step out of it if he wanted. He didn’t. 

“How do you even know The Lion King anyway?” Scott asked. 

“I was a kid at one point, ya know,” Derek informed him. He felt an arm come around his back and a hand gingerly grip his opposite hip, and the two werewolves meandered this way till they got to the next set of exhibits.

After the big cats, most of whom had reacted in much the same way the lions had, Scott looked apprehensive about entering the wolf area. It started with a well-done replica of a log cabin that one walked into and then up to a three sided wall of huge windows. The wooded area that was on display appeared extensive, but Derek still felt a sharp twinge of sympathy. No matter how large it might be, it was still a cage, and these were, if not quite his true brethren, at least his cousins. Scott seemed to sense the change in the air, or he was feeling the same uneasiness, born of a deep connection to these beings somewhere behind the windows. 

There wasn’t a wolf in sight, just dense forest that thinned out near the viewing area, and this made Derek feel a little better. At least if they had to be here, they must have plenty of places to hide. As a result of no animals being conveniently visible, people were not lingering long in the fake cabin area before they would exit again. This was just fine with Derek, as it made this spot the quietest in the zoo yet. 

“Looks like we won’t get to see our full blooded buddies today,” he said softly. Was it wrong that he was thinking this would be a perfect spot for a first kiss? He surprised himself with even the thought. Derek didn’t know what romance was anymore, hadn’t for a long time. And well, it was fitting that the first person in years that he was having these notions about was off limits. That was Derek’s luck in a nutshell. He let his gaze linger on Scott longer than he usually did, since the teen’s back was to him and he was crouching down close to the right-most window. He’d only have to wait a little over a year for him to turn eighteen, Derek mused...he could do that... 

“Hey there, beautiful,” Scott said gently, almost reverently, and it took Derek a moment and a blush of the cheeks to realize that greeting wasn’t for him. The teen’s gaze was intent on the forested area just past where the foliage began to thin, ferns leading into pine tree darkness. And then Derek saw her. She could have been a trick of the shadows to mere human eyes, but Derek knew that the all black wolf hadn’t been there a few moments ago. He would have seen her heat signature. 

The gorgeously regal beast blinked calm golden eyes at Scott, and Derek decided not to break the spell, so he stayed where he was in the center of the cabin. Of course at this point a handful of people staggered through the door. Derek heaved a quiet sigh and concentrated on Scott’s crouched form to inspire him to be patient. He caught the reflection of the teen’s face in the glass. He had his eyes closed and now he began to retie his shoe. The small group that had come in were complaining about not seeing any wolves, and they made their way back out of the cabin. 

Derek wondered why at least one of the humans hadn’t been observant enough to spot the animal, but then he realized all he himself could see of her was black shadow and her body heat. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Scott lift his head again and as he did so, the black wolf’s bright golden eyes opened wide once more, the near glowing orbs fully giving her location away again. Then she rose to her feet and took a few graceful steps forward before sitting back down on her haunches. She hadn’t looked away from Scott for a second, nor he her. Derek was almost speechless at what he was witnessing; clearly a strong member of the pack, quite possibly the Alpha, being drawn to Scott, feeling the need to come closer to him. He wondered if Scott was consciously somehow talking to her, but he was still unwilling to upset the balance of what was happening. 

A few seconds went by, and the female wolf dipped her head, almost as if she was bowing to Scott, then lifted her snout again quickly, a playful gesture. Her mouth opened and her tongue lolled out, a very casual expression for a wolf. Then she stood up, shook herself, and tilted her head back. A howl issued from her throat, a long, undulating cry that urged Derek to shift and go tearing through the woods like even the moon hadn’t made him want to do in a long time. 

Scott stood up and nodded once, still silent, as she lowered her head, her sharp eyes settling directly back on him as if they’d never left. And as if in response to an order, she turned around and took a leaping bound and was lost in the shadows of the pines once more, only ferns waving a bit to show where she’d been, just as about ten people came rushing through the door. They’d been drawn by the howl, thinking they were going to see something, and Derek smirked to watch them search the woods with their inferior eyesight. Nobody was there any longer.

The two werewolves finished enjoying the rest of the zoo in a much quieter fashion than they had been earlier. Derek was lost in curiosity and theories on what had happened back there, but he was unwilling to dissect it out loud quite yet. What was partially affecting him was that his mother had been a large black Alpha wolf herself, and the resemblance was making him a bit heartsick.

Of course the end of the zoo’s path led directly into their gift shop, so you couldn’t leave without being tempted to purchase a memento or five. This was not an issue for Derek, who was relatively impervious to impulse shopping. Scott, on the other hand, was a different story. The teen’s hushed mood fell away as he got distracted by the plethora of items.

He was especially impressed with the well made stuffed animals, gawking over how cute they were. Derek had to agree, biting his tongue to not say, “But not as cute as you.” He smiled at the only thing currently in the shop that held any temptation for him, who was holding a stuffed rabbit in front of him with dancing eyes. It was impossible for him to remain melancholy while around a happy Scott.

After some wandering around, the younger werewolf picked out a beautifully detailed figurine of a grey wolf standing on a rock, head up in a howling posture. Since he was getting it for his mother, Derek couldn’t tease him for the cliche. But then Scott grabbed one of the grey stuffed wolves on his way to the register.

“For Stiles,” he said to Derek’s questioning look.

“Really?” The older man lifted one brow. 

“Trust me, he’ll get a kick out of it.” Derek shook his head slightly and opened his wallet.

“Then tell him it’s from me too.” He threw money on the counter, enough to pay for both of Scott’s purchases. The younger man opened his mouth to protest, but Derek discreetly brought his hand to Scott’s elbow, cupping it and giving a gentle squeeze while he shot him a warm glance. Scott’s defenses melted and he allowed the clerk to take the bills. Derek was trying not to be the creepy guy that bought things for his young prey, he really was, it just genuinely made him happy to treat Scott. It’s not like he was going to buy the kid that motorcycle he wanted, though he’d let himself fantasize about it. 

“I want to go give my mom hers now,” Scott said as they returned to the car. “I was going to save it till Christmas, it’s not that far away, but...just in case something happens. You know, tonight, or...next week.” Derek’s heart constricted.

“Scott,” he said seriously, “Nothing bad is going to happen to you tonight. I promise you that.” 

“Okay,” Scott agreed willingly enough. “But you can’t promise anything about next week. When we go to help the hunters. Not with that crazy Kate chick coming back around and how pissed Peter’s going to be.”

“An Alpha won’t kill his own Beta, not even for that,” Derek said, unwilling to say that some sort of punishment was not unlikely. He swallowed, his mind full of images of Scott hurt, bleeding badly, torn apart...not able to stop himself, barely knowing he did it, he reached out and settled his hand over Scott’s, needing to touch him, to know that he was all right. He came out of his dark reverie to the sensation of Scott slipping his fingers in between his own, settling them there as if they belonged. Derek looked up to see the mixture of a half smile and concern on the teen’s face. 

“Scott, I can promise that I will do everything and anything in my power to protect you,” Derek vowed. If something happened to him, Derek knew he would lose his mind. He was not being given the wonderful gift of falling in love with this beautiful soul only to have it torn from him. Life couldn’t be that cruel. But the problem was that Derek knew firsthand that it could. Scott squeezed his hand, grounding him a bit, and right or wrong, Derek hung on just as tightly. 


	8. Chapter 8

Derek watched the interaction between Scott and his mother, trying not to look or feel guilty. He had just held hands with this woman’s underage son for the whole ride here to the hospital, after all. Melissa gushed over the wolf figure, her eyes warm with gratitude and she gave Scott a hug while Derek hung back, trying not to miss the comfort and magic of a mother’s hug. He was happy for Scott that he got to have that. 

“Oh, hi, Derek,” Melissa greeted him. He gave her his warm, gentle smile, being sure not to show any teeth so as not to appear threatening. 

“Good afternoon, Mrs. McCall,” he said respectfully. 

“Yeah, Mom, if it’s cool I’m going to spend the night at Derek’s,” Scott said easily. “He’s going to help me with some school stuff and we probably won’t be done till late. He lives on Freemont, over in that area.” Derek carefully watched Melissa’s demeanor, the glance over at the twenty something man with dark stubble and leather jacket, the questions that hung in her eyes as her brows creased slightly. She stepped away from Scott and motioned for Derek to follow her several feet away, which he willingly but nervously complied with. Here it was, the “what are you doing to my son” talk. 

She leaned in, eyes steady on Derek’s, not that much shorter than him, and spoke quietly. She assumed Scott couldn’t hear but Derek was sure he was using his wolf ears. 

“I know who you are,” she said baldly. “I know you were one of the main suspects in that fire, and that they supposedly never did find the person responsible.” She paused, and her gaze softened almost imperceptibly. “But I also know my son’s judgement, and I don’t think you’re a killer. However, if anything happens to him, I will kill  _ you _ in cold blood and I know how to make it look like an accident.” She smiled, somehow sweetly and professionally at the same time. Then she spun on her heel, not giving Derek a chance to reply, and rejoined Scott.

“Okay, just make sure you keep your phone on,” she told him as if there’d been no interruption. “And that you eat something.” She shifted her head to look at Derek, and her tone was conspiratorial and nurturing, all Mom. “Makes sure he eats something.”

“I will,” Derek reassured her, happy to go along with anything she asked, not because of the threat but because he wanted her trust and to prove to her that they both had Scott’s well being in common. 

When they exited the hospital, Derek wasn’t sure whether to broach the subject or not. Scott didn’t appear fazed by the social connotations of the two of them spending this much time together. Could he really be that innocent, and if so Derek didn’t want to corrupt that. Maybe he was just being paranoid.

“School stuff?” he asked though. Scott shrugged. 

“Being able to pass my classes because I wasn’t outed as a werewolf? I think that counts.” Derek tilted his head at this; not exactly wrong. They stopped at Burger Town for dinner, and Scott hurried to pay for both of them. Derek wanted to argue, not used to anyone taking care of him or making the gesture, but he didn’t, knowing Scott wanted to keep things even after the zoo gift shop. All of this: eating with someone, hanging out with someone, enjoying their company, was not something Derek was used to, so he was content to let Scott do whatever he wanted. 

After realizing how he had initiated the touches that had happened at the zoo and in the car, though Scott certainly hadn’t seemed to mind, Derek determined to back off. He couldn’t pursue the kid or take the slightest chance of influencing or pressuring him. The situation was bad enough already; Derek could no longer pretend to be blind to Scott’s glances at him, to the teen’s smiles when he caught Derek looking, to the way he seemed to walk and stand closer to the older man than he had before this day started. The barriers were breaking down, the ground shifting under Derek’s feet. He could not contribute to it any more than he already had. 

But Scott appeared to have no qualms, brushing his fingers against Derek’s as he handed him the cup for the soda, leaning into him with a shoulder while suggesting they sit in a booth by the window, brushing his knee against Derek’s too many times to be coincidence while they sat across from each other and ate. The older man wondered if he should say something, stop this in its tracks. He couldn’t lie to himself and say he wasn’t appreciating every tiny bit of Scott’s attention towards him, but he knew it was wrong. 

One more week, and Derek had no doubt Scott would be a strong, powerful, and relatively disciplined werewolf, and he wouldn’t be needed like he was now. That was the goal, after all. They could stay friends, but Derek would go back to his solitary world, and Scott could go back to his full one, once he’d mastered the whole werewolf thing. Derek ignored the twist in his heart that the idea of withdrawing into the background of the teen’s life gave him. But at the end of the day, that was all that was ever supposed to happen. Not that Derek really believed in fate anymore, but if things were meant to be, maybe in a year or a little longer they could be, when they’d be legal. A year was not that long. Derek tried to concentrate on eating, aware that Scott was aware of his silence. 

“You got a TV?!” Scott stopped in his tracks for a moment as soon as the werewolves entered the apartment.

“People do that, you know. You don’t have to sound so shocked,” Derek teased, easing his jacket off his shoulders and hanging it by the door. 

“Yeah, people do. But you don’t,” Scott taunted back, his tone light. It was admittedly strange to see the fifty inch flat screen contraption in the middle of his living room, and Derek was quite sure it wouldn’t last long when a supernatural fight broke out in his loft, which, with his life,  _ was _ a question of when and not if. But he’d figured maybe it was time to make the place feel and look a bit more like a home. He personally didn’t like the mindlessness that seemed to come with staring at a screen for hours, but with Scott coming over so often, he thought the kid might like an opportunity to veg out. Also, it was phase three of his distraction agenda. 

Derek told Scott to browse through the streaming service and pick out a movie while he made popcorn. He watched the teen surreptitiously, not able to help but enjoy how he tossed his jacket on the end of the couch and made himself at home scrolling with the TV remote. 

“What do you think?” Scott called over his shoulder. “One of the Fast and the Furious movies or something superhero?” 

“Fast and the Furious sounds good,” Derek answered, stepping out of the kitchen area. 

“A man after my own heart,” Scott grinned and Derek had to stop himself from dropping the bowl of popcorn. This could be a long night. He settled into the right side of the couch, what had become his normal side when company, meaning Scott, was over. The teen then flopped down in between the center and the left side of the couch, not leaving as much of a gap as he usually did between him and Derek, a fact that the older man couldn’t miss. Maybe he should have bought another chair yesterday along with the TV and stand, but somehow he didn’t think it would have made a difference at this point. He was just going to resolutely stay over on his side.

“I know what you’re trying to do, by the way,” Scott said as the opening music to the movie began. Derek grabbed a handful of popcorn to attempt to disguise his sudden case of nerves. He should have known that Scott was going to call him out, he was an intelligent, straight forward person, and he wouldn’t have missed either Derek’s gentle advances or his gentle pulling away. 

“This day has been all about keeping my mind off the full moon tonight,” Scott continued, and Derek let out a breath. 

“I had to at least try,” he replied with a small shrug.

“It’s worked for the most part, and I appreciate it,” Scott said, and he gave Derek that open and gorgeous smile of his. The older man’s lips couldn’t help but turn up in response. “It was cool to spend the day hanging out with you, just having fun, not really talking wolf stuff,” the younger man added. And he leaned forward to grab his own handful of popcorn and turned his attention to the TV. This would be fine, Derek told himself, they’d watch the movie, he’d talk Scott through not shifting once the moon came up, and the teen could hopefully get some sleep once the worst of it was past. Everything was fine. 

An hour later, Derek had no idea what was happening on the screen because all he could focus on was Scott’s body heat right next to him. The teen had not quite slid up against Derek’s side, but he’d come extremely close, inching over each time he’d reached for popcorn. It was hard to think it wasn’t intentional. Derek was determined to ignore, hoping that with his attention on the movie, Scott wouldn’t notice his less than steady heartbeat. 

Then he felt a weight on his shoulder, and Derek glanced over, ready to finally say this was enough, Scott should really move away a little. But as he opened his mouth, he became aware of the boy’s slowed and deeper breathing, the way his head had flopped without direction, and the eyelashes resting on his caramel cheeks. Derek’s heart did that squeezing thing it liked to do when Scott looked especially vulnerable or cute, and his mouth closed. Was it so wrong to let the guy rest? It had been a long day and he had a rough night ahead of him. So Derek allowed his shoulder to be used as a pillow, wishing he could turn the volume of the movie’s big ending down but unwilling to move enough to disturb Scott. 

With almost all of his being, Derek dearly wanted to reach for the blanket he’d taken to leaving on the back of the couch and wrap them both up in it and forget the world existed for awhile. But he had sworn to protect the boy, and being cautious of his own desires had to factor into that. So he tried to relax, and not focus on how nice it felt to be trusted this much, and how warm that leg and bicep were as they just barely rested against his, and the beautifully calm throb of the heart belonging to this young man that Derek had unwittingly fallen in love with. Derek’s eyes closed as the movie’s end credits ran, and he dozed lightly in spite of himself. 


	9. Chapter 9

He didn’t fall all the way asleep, keeping himself simmering just under the surface of awake. Full dark was descending outside, and the moon was beginning to lap at the edge of his consciousness. Derek knew Scott would feel the effects before too long. The teen had leaned heavier into Derek’s side, turning his body a bit towards him and his head now covering more of his shoulder. The older werewolf tuned himself even closer into the younger’s heartbeat. Still calm and steady as he watched him in the dim glow from the TV screen showing other movies they might want to watch. 

They hadn’t bothered turning a lamp on before they’d sat down, so the TV was the only light in the room and it would have been cozy if Derek hadn’t been so damn worried. The brightening of the huge window on the wall facing east helped ease him somewhat, even as he knew things would soon get more difficult for Scott. That window was mostly why he’d chosen this apartment. The sun rises were gorgeous, of course, filling the loft with the brilliant light of each new morning. But when the moon rose...that was Derek’s favorite time of day. 

If he couldn’t love people because they were too untrustworthy and unstable, and life had proven that he couldn’t, he could love the moon with no restraints. She was always there for him. Even when it was cloudy, even on the new moon nights, he could feel Her calling him, could sense the tides She controlled as She waxed and waned. Far from being the torture Scott experienced upon Her appearance, Derek welcomed Her as an old friend, a mother even, his own having been ripped from him. The moon was a comfort and a high at the same time, always changing and never changing, representing an ancient cycle and tying the flow of seasons and life itself together in a beautiful, perfect rhythm. His blood began to sing as She grew brighter now.

And sure enough, Scott began to stir. He let out a tiny moan, and most of his facial muscles twitched at once. Derek knew he had to be ready to wake him up when he started to shift. So far, his heart rate hadn’t increased, so Derek left him to his own devices for the moment. Except his own devices seemed to be to get closer to the older man in his sleep, tucking his legs up onto the couch, rolling almost into Derek’s lap, his head tucking into his neck. Derek inhaled deeply for strength, unintentionally taking in the intoxicating scent of Scott’s body this near, his hair smelling of everywhere they’d been that day together, and underneath all of that, a hint of tea tree oil from his shampoo. Derek wasn’t sure how much more he could take, he couldn’t let this go on much longer. Scott’s hair was so soft on his cheek as he tilted his face that way. 

Another small moan, this one of contentment. 

“Scott,” Derek tried, his voice low and huskier than he’d meant it to be in the dark, and so close to the younger man’s ear. This only served to wake Scott up enough to curl even deeper into Derek, head burrowing into his neck, hip digging into Derek’s as his left leg snaked over his own. Scott’s left arm, which till now had been peacefully resting at his side, reached across Derek’s chest, grasping for his opposite shoulder, fingers brushing the skin of his neck and making the older werewolf shiver, remembering his caresses from the other day. 

Not made of steel, Derek brought his arms up to wrap protectively around Scott’s precious curled form, his heart feeling like it might burst. He was rewarded by a deep sigh and the younger man cuddling in even further.

“Mmm,” Scott moaned happily. Then, softly,“I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time,” he muttered, dispelling any illusions Derek had tried to construct that Scott had been unconsciously moving in his sleep. A long time? They’d only been on speaking terms for a couple of weeks. He was right, that was a long time.

“Me too,” Derek admitted in a whisper, his defenses breaking. It had been ages since he’d held someone like this, with this care and tenderness, if indeed he ever had. That old saying of if this was wrong, he wasn’t sure he wanted to be right flitted through his mind. 

Scott suddenly tensed and Derek loosened his arms minutely, ready to release him if his embrace had become too much, but then he felt the teen’s heartbeat pick up speed and his breath deepen. The wolf was beginning to rise. Derek could just see the pulse point in Scott’s bronze throat out of the corner of his eye from where his head rested and he focused on that. It was a beautiful, entrancing sight, and Derek’s heartbeat synced with the boy’s without his really thinking about it. Thump. Thump. Thump, thump. Thump thump. Thump thump thump thump thump thump. He would have almost expected Scott to be thrashing with the shift now, but he was only digging his fingers deeper into Derek’s shoulder, holding on as if it grounded him. Derek tightened his arms around him again, sensing it was what he needed. 

His body temperature was definitely rising, Derek could feel it, the wolf wanting to make itself known in his bloodstream. The moonlight was gorgeous, splashed across the floor of the loft and lighting up the room with Her silvery glow. Derek didn’t have much trouble controlling his shift usually, but with Scott this near and his body yearning for it, he found himself wanting to give in to it more than usual. 

“Scott, breathe. Like we’ve practiced,” he told the younger man, hoping the advice would center him as well. Focusing on Scott’s infuriatingly delicious pulse was both helpful and tortuous. Derek realized his mouth was watering, his eyes not able to leave that throbbing patch of skin. He could hear the blood surging faster through Scott’s veins, and it was doing indescribable things to his body, as attuned as he was to the younger man. Thus far, he’d been able to keep his more carnal desires at bay, desperate not to defile Scott even in his imagination, but he couldn’t keep his heart and his hunger separate much longer like this. 

Scott had the ability to affect Derek in ways that Derek had hardly known existed. For all the passion he had shared with Kate, she had been the one in charge at all times, and Derek surrendered because that’s what he thought he should do. She wanted him to wolf out sometimes, and he did, and it made for mind blowing sex, but if he was being honest with himself, which it took him a long time to be able to do, it never felt right. As for the few other partners that he’d had, sure they turned him on, and he was able to find satisfactory release, but there was always something missing. One could say that maybe it was love, and perhaps they’d be right. But Derek had given up on that long ago. Until now. 

Scott’s body adjusted in Derek’s arms, clinging even tighter to him, letting out another low moan as he fought off the change. His hand slid down to grip Derek’s right hip in an almost bruising grasp while he finished bringing his legs into position to straddle his lap. His face stayed buried in Derek’s neck, the older werewolf able to feel his eyelashes fluttering against his skin, sending tingles down his spine along with all the rest of the physical overload he was experiencing. Their bodies were now flush together, one of Scott’s arms around his back as if he’d never let go, and the other settled around the back of his neck, almost burning the skin. 

Derek’s hands were splayed across Scott’s back, and he began to run them up and down, trying to comfort, cupping the teen’s head, carefully smoothing over the top of the swell of his ass, letting himself be the anchor Scott needed. Derek could no longer see the young man’s pulse point but he could smell and feel every hot surge of blood, and it was making it extremely challenging to stay calm himself. His own body was overheating, and he could no longer hope to keep his erection at bay, not with Scott pressed to him like this, moaning and needing him. He was not remotely surprised to feel an answering bulge in the younger werewolf’s jeans. He could do Scott no good if he didn’t remain in control however, so Derek breathed and centered himself, determined to keep his promise. 

“Derek,” Scott groaned, “It’s so strong.” 

“I know, I know,” Derek soothed, running his fingers through Scott’s short hair. “It’s okay, you’ve got this. You’re doing great.” This was not remotely close to how Derek had pictured being Scott’s anchor. Sure, he’d figured he might have to hold the kid down, keep him from shifting all the way and going berserk, but this was far more intimate than he’d planned on. Aw, who the fuck was he kidding? This was exactly what he’d been scared of, and a buried part of him admitted, desperately wanted. His body and heart responded to Scott without his brain being able to have much say. He shouldn’t want to have this urge to surrender to the boy, to give Scott complete control over him. Unbidden, he pictured himself kneeling at the younger werewolf’s feet, asking to do whatever Scott wanted him to. 

The problem was, Derek was supposed to be the one in control right now, not imagining what it would be like to rest his head on Scott’s belly and be taken over. The two werewolves held each other tight, both shaking with the struggle to remain themselves. 

“I don’t know if I can do it,” Scott’s voice was hot against Derek’s throat, his grip desperate on his shoulders. 

“You can. You can,” Derek told him, making his tone as stern as he could. He was the older, more experienced one here, he berated himself. He should be able to do something to help. So he gripped Scott’s sides and pushed the teen’s torso into a more upright position, doing his best to ignore the friction this caused his hard cock. Maybe at least a few inches of distance would be a start for both of them to cool down. Scott sat up willingly enough, his eyes opening wide and finding Derek’s immediately. The older werewolf knew he was answering those blown golden irises with his own bright blue ones. 

Scott’s breath was heaving, and Derek tried to calm his own so that the boy could follow suit. 

“You’re doing amazing,” the older werewolf encouraged, his hands resting gently on Scott’s slim hips. He was so beautiful, so strong, he was...pulling his shirt off over his head and throwing it on the other side of the couch. 

“I’m really hot,” Scott said in explanation, an undeniable smirk playing at his lips. 

“You can say that again,” Derek  _ didn’t  _ say but wanted to, and instead closed his eyes, trying to be good and not stare and not want more than he already did. Scott’s response to this was to start pawing at the hem of his own grey t shirt, peeling it up Derek’s abs and tugging insistently when it was halfway up his torso.

“Scott...” Derek started, opening his eyes again, expecting to be met with blind lust and wolfy heat. But while Scott’s eyes were still golden and warm, they were also soft and begging. The younger man looked so vulnerable in that moment, while still strong and commanding, that Derek quite lost his resolve. He allowed Scott to slip his shirt off, his hands coming right back to rest on the teen’s hips as the golden eyes roamed hungrily over him.

“Oh Derek,” Scott breathed, and the older werewolf didn’t think his name had ever been uttered with such devotion. “You are so perfect.” Derek wanted to howl, overwhelmed and confused by the show of affection. He let himself begin to run his fingers reverently over Scott’s skin, well beyond being able to tell himself it was wrong. 

The younger man threw his head back as if he was going to howl but he merely deliciously shuddered instead, holding onto Derek’s arms for support. Derek’s eyes were drawn to that exquisite pulse point again, and his mouth began to water once more. 

“Scott, you are the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen,” Derek said desperately. The way his caramel skin responded to his touch, hot goosebumps rising in his fingers’ wake, the nipples that hardened without him having to go near them, the deep bronze that his chest flushed with the attention. Derek wondered if Scott had ever been more turned on in his young life. 

Then the teen whimpered, a sound that went right to Derek’s loins as he leaned forward, bringing his body and all that wonderful skin flush against the older werewolf’s again. Scott’s breath was hot on his shoulder, his neck, his ear, and Derek thought he might just be the death of him. And then Scott trailed his lips along his rough jaw and Derek saw stars. He thought his heart might beat out of his chest. There were hands in his thick hair and on his shoulders and the back of his neck, seemingly all at once, and Derek could barely breathe. 

“Derek,” Scott’s hungry whisper crawled into his ear, “I can smell your wolf. I can taste him. Please…” 

Derek’s brain all but turned off as Scott’s lips pressed into his, warm, insistent, powerful. He gave himself over to the younger man without another thought, surrendering in the basest and sweetest of ways. He was aware of moaning up into the kiss, and pulling Scott even closer, all pretenses gone. Scott ravaged his lips with a passion and a love Derek had never been blessed enough to feel, then moved onto his throat and the side of his neck. It was all Derek could do to hold on, to keep his wolf just in check so that when he dug his fingers into Scott’s back he didn’t pierce him with claws. 

Their bodies were slick with sweat as they pressed against each other, skin sliding and overheated. Scott was administering the teeniest of nibbles to the shell of Derek’s ear, and Derek’s entire form was shaking. 

“Scott,” he moaned lewdly, and unable to stop himself, he ground his hips upwards as he pulled Scott’s down. A hot gasp encompassed his ear, and Scott willingly pressed his weight further into Derek’s crotch. The younger man began to rock his hips, hard, and captured Derek’s mouth again. The older werewolf, his cock throbbing painfully by now, desperately wanted to rip open his jeans so he kissed Scott back like his life depended on it instead. 

Their lips parted and their tongues found each other, equally hungry and eager and demanding. Scott tasted like popcorn and the moon, and Derek was hopelessly drunk. His hands cupped Scott’s denim clad buttocks, still grinding the teen into his erection, not sure he wasn’t going to come in his pants from this, and almost wanting to. The kiss broke, both gasping for air, and a look of unutterable lust washed over Scott’s face. 

“Derek,” he ground out, almost painfully, “God, please,” and then his hands were at his belt, fingers elongating into claws, then retracting as he clumsily undid his own and then Derek’s buttons and fly. 

“Fuck,” was all Derek was capable of, completely at Scott’s mercy. He lifted the younger man’s hips with one hand so that he could open his jeans just enough to release the pressure on his hard as hell cock, his head dropping back on the couch in some relief. Scott was squirming above him, and Derek glanced down and couldn’t help a smile as he watched his beautiful creature awkwardly shimmying his own jeans past his ass. 

Then Scott wouldn’t be held at arm’s length anymore, and used his considerable strength to grab onto Derek, pulling him closer into the older man again, but then shifting them both onto the rest of the couch, with himself laying underneath Derek. Derek could have overpowered him, of course, at least normally, but all semblance of normal had flown out the window with the moonlight. 

“Please,” Scott begged, his hands slipping the denim off Derek’s ass and squeezing the older werewolf’s muscular cheeks through his boxer briefs. Derek gripped the arm of the couch as he attempted to lower himself carefully on top of Scott, needing contact as badly as the teen did. He barely noticed the wood underneath the upholstery cracking in his grip as Scott began moving against him again, this time only two thin layers of cotton between their insistent erections. He bit down on Scott’s sweaty shoulder, causing the younger man to buck up into him wildly. 

“Oh god, Derek, Derek,” the teen moaned, his body gyrating obscenely, beautifully, underneath the older man’s. It was the most erotic thing Derek had ever witnessed. 

“I’m gonna...I’m gonna...” Scott couldn’t quite form the words. Derek pressed his hips down with a slow and steady pressure, and wrapped his arms even tighter around Scott, holding the boy securely while he writhed through his orgasm. Derek buried his nose in his neck, lapping up the heat and sweet joy of his release as Scott’s movements slowed and his body went limp. 

The older werewolf pulled his face back to see Scott’s blissed out smile and heavy lidded golden eyes. 

“Um, wow,” the teen breathed, and Derek had to kiss him on the chin, the corner of his mouth, along his jaw. He was the most perfect being and Derek was never going to let him go. He could feel the wetness seeping from the fabric of the boy’s underwear into the front of his own and that combined with the primal smell of come made his still hard erection throb. In spite of this, he would have been content to stare at Scott for the rest of the night, heart bursting with love and appreciation for him. But there was a hand slipping down his side, down his hip, and into his boxer briefs.

Scott gasped softly when he wrapped his fingers around Derek’s achingly hard cock. Derek let out another, “Fuck…” into the teen’s ear, his head dropping helplessly onto the shoulder he’d bitten. His hips began thrusting gently, his body demanding release though he personally would dearly have loved to luxuriate in the hand stroking him. As turned on as he was, he knew it wasn’t going to be much longer and only three gasps later he was coming and making a mess of himself, his underwear, and Scott’s fingers. 

Not even allowing the younger man to get his sticky hand out from between them, Derek wrapped his arms around Scott in a vise grip, knowing he could take the slightly rough treatment. His heart was thundering in his chest and he could feel Scott’s pounding in response. The young werewolf managed to slide his hand free and bring both of his arms up to hold Derek back just as tightly, as well as wrapping a strong leg around one of his. It seemed Scott was just fine with being half crushed under his partner’s weight. 

Derek opened his mouth twice to say something, he knew not exactly what. The L word actually crossed his mind, soaked as he was in Scott and the impossibility of all this. Instead he pressed gentle kisses to Scott’s temple and cheekbone and earlobe and held him the rest of the night like he’d only dreamed about. 


	10. Chapter 10

It wasn’t the sunrise that woke the two werewolves, it was the muffled ringing that was coming from somewhere on the floor, from a pocket in a pile of jeans that had been lazily shoved the rest of the way off at some point. Derek felt the body that was half on top of him stir and begin to crawl over him. He grumbled a wordless complaint at the loss of comfort this caused, refusing to open his eyes yet. The ringing sound came again, then abruptly stopped.

“Hi Mom,” Scott’s groggy voice came. Derek’s eyes opened at that. The younger man was splayed chest down across Derek’s front, having reached just far enough for the phone and stayed there. Derek tried not to listen to the voice on the other end, partially for privacy’s sake, partially because this was just a little too weird to cope with first thing in the morning. 

“No, everything’s fine. I was just asleep still.” 

“Yeah, we got burgers.” 

“It was good. Yeah, we got a lot done.” Derek closed his eyes again for a moment at this.

“No, he’s like a huge help. You have no idea.” Really, Scott?

  
“Yeah I’ll be home soon. Love you too. Bye.” The teen messed with his phone for a few more minutes, presumably checking and answering texts before he let it plop back down to the pile of denim. 

His head came to rest on Derek’s chest and he let out a contented sigh, obviously not wanting to get up yet either. The older werewolf draped an arm around his young couchmate, savoring the feel of the strong, lithe body against his own. Scott stretched his legs, entwined with Derek’s, and shifted enough to raise his head, his chin sitting squarely in the middle of Derek’s pecs. 

“Hi,” he said simply, adorably, his big brown puppy eyes gazing up at Derek’s face and his lips turning up in a smile. As if this was somehow normal, waking up in the arms of a guy that was seven years his senior, only wearing underwear, having just gotten off the phone with his mother. And because Scott was so good at making it seem so, it did become a little bit normal in that moment. 

“Morning,” Derek rumbled, never able to not return a smile from Scott. The younger man just continued to look up at him, his eyes warm and thoughtful, then he caught his bottom lip in his upper teeth, making Derek fall just a little bit more. Scott pushed himself up, making Derek miss the contact but then he planted a smooch on Derek’s stubbly cheek, surprising the older man too much to protest. 

They slowly got up, taking turns using the bathroom to try to clean up the best they could from the previous night’s rather sticky mess. Derek’s brain was working in odd fits and starts. Should he say something? Like what? Scott seemed fine, not worried about anything. Well, he wasn’t the one that knew enough about things to know to worry. Give him more credit than that, for Odin’s sake. But still, Derek was supposed to be the adult; he was not supposed to just surrender to this teenager, no matter how powerful he seemed or how happy he was to fold himself into Derek’s arms. 

“So I guess I did okay, huh?” Scott asked as they made ready to leave, so Derek could take him home. The older werewolf could only stare at him for a moment, speechless. Was he really asking…

“With the full moon?” A half smirk. “I didn’t shift,” he pointed out, his tone playful. Derek breathed again.

“No, you didn’t,” he agreed. “That’s...not exactly...how I was planning it would go, though.” If he said nothing else, he knew he needed Scott to know this. 

“I know,” the teen told him, serious for only a second, then added, “But it worked,” with a bratty full smirk on his face again. Derek half wanted to tease him back with something like “Yeah, better than I thought,'' he half wanted to give him genuine praise, and he also half wanted to light heartedly hit him for his smart aleck remarks. 

Not being able to decide, and not knowing when the next time he’d get to be able to do this was, he merely stepped towards him, put a gentle hand on his jaw, and kissed him. Scott responded immediately and enthusiastically, his arm slipping comfortably into the jacket Derek had put back on. This shouldn’t feel so good, but damn it. Derek’s heart hungered for everything that Scott seemed quite eager to shower him with. He was only a couple weeks away from seventeen now, that wasn’t that bad, was it? 

Derek composed himself as the kiss broke; they had to get going. The light in Scott’s eyes sparkling back at him made it hard to feel guilty. Derek slid the loft door open, knowing he and Scott could not do anything like that once they stepped outside of it. And directly onto a Stiles, leaning against the doorway with an arm over his head, casual as you please, one foot over the other. Derek blanched. 

“Stiles,” Scott stuttered, clearly not expecting him. “How long have you been out there?”

“Oh, just a few minutes.” His brows went almost up into his not quite crew cut. “How long have you been in here?” 

“You knew I was here,” Scott said. “I told you I had to spend last night with him, that it was safer that way.” Derek winced at Scott’s choice of words, which seemed to be a pattern now, but he stayed silent. Even through Stiles’s next smart ass comment, Derek picked up on his concern for his friend, and he couldn’t help but like the eccentric kid a little more.

“You could have been dead.”

“I text you less than an hour ago.”

“You could have been dead and that could have been him using your phone.” Scott just laughed lightly and shook his head. Though he knew Stiles was not being serious, at least, completely, Derek felt he had to make a comment at this point.

“You do know I would never let anything happen to him, right?” he asked Stiles, his tone dead serious. The teen looked him up and down, not for the first time, and somehow Derek felt that this assessment was more thorough than even Melissa McCall’s had been. 

“We’ll see,” Stiles returned, still cocky, but Derek knew he was nowhere as suspicious of him as he used to be. He couldn’t be annoyed by him anymore, instead thankful that Scott had such a trustworthy and close friend. 

“You know, one day you two will actually get along,” Scott chimed in, and Derek and Stiles both made a face at him. It was determined that Scott would head out with his best friend, so Derek reminded him not to forget to retrieve the item he’d left in the car. He wished he could hug Scott goodbye once more, but he didn’t dare in front of Stiles. He could hear them chatting easily as they walked down the stairs together.

“Aww, you got me something?” 

“Yeah, at the zoo.” 

“You went to the zoo?” 

“Yeah, with Derek yesterday.” 

“What’d, you guys have, like, a date?” A nervous laugh escaped Scott.

“Yeah, sort of.” Derek groaned to himself and closed the door before he could listen to Stiles’s response. He heard the shrieked “WHAT?!” all the way up on the third floor anyway. 

  
  


After not seeing Scott for over twenty-four hours, having to wait till he got out of school and then lacrosse practice on Monday was maddening. That’s what you get for falling for a high schooler, Derek chided himself as he sat in his car outside of the school. Scott appeared, his hair still wet from the showers, backpack slung over his shoulder, walking with Stiles, and surprisingly, Allison and the redhead whose name he’d been informed was Lydia. 

He was not jealous of a sixteen year old girl, nope; he refused to entertain the notion. Not even when she glanced at Scott like that as the two boys broke off from the females at the bottom of the stairs. He was so busy not entertaining the notion that he almost missed the heavy smirk that Stiles shot his and Scott’s way as Scott slid into the Camaro. 

“You two have fun,” Stiles called sweetly. “Be safe!” Scott rolled his eyes at his friend and it took him a moment to realize that Derek was being quiet.

“Hey,” he tried, his winning smile directed at the older man. Derek’s teeth were clamped shut while he tried not to get upset. He drove out of the lot carefully, making sure he took a few breaths before he spoke. 

“Are you mad at me?” Scott asked before he could, the sudden worry in his voice going right to Derek’s heart. It sounded stupid to say anything now.

“I thought you and Allison were taking a break,” he said, realizing too late he hadn’t assured Scott that he wasn’t mad at him. 

“We...are…” Scott answered, his tone rather confused. “We’re just friends. At least for now.” Derek’s knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. “I mean…” Scott hurried to add, “We’re just friends. That’s all.” Derek glanced over at him, at the wide eyes, the creased brow, and softened imperceptibly. Again, high schooler, he reminded himself. 

“Are you jealous?!” Scott asked, his voice lifting on the last word.

“No,” Derek said, quickly and succinctly, his eyes not straying from the road. 

“You’re jealous!” Scott insisted. Was that in amusement or shock? Either way, Derek wasn’t sure he liked it. He stayed silent. 

“That’s...really fucking cute,” Scott said appreciatively, and if he hadn’t been driving, Derek would have closed his eyes in exasperation. He was not generally referred to as ‘cute’ but somehow, the way Scott said that, it made him want to kiss him. He didn’t respond, leaving Scott over in the passenger side to grin to himself. 

Derek pulled the car into the parking area for the nature preserve, still determined not to talk about it. As soon as he shut the engine off, Scott pounced. He grabbed Derek’s arm, gently pulling him towards the center console, his hand snaking up to the back of his neck. Derek’s breath caught as Scott’s thumb caressed the skin behind his ear, and he finally consented to turn his head towards the teen. 

“You’re jealous,” Scott confirmed, peering into Derek’s eyes, his tone gentle now. Then, “Man, I missed you,” and Scott was kissing him, leaning over the gearshift, his lips warm and soft and oh, Derek had missed him too. But, this was not the privacy of his loft, and Derek tried to cut the kiss short. He couldn’t bring himself to pull completely out of Scott’s embrace, however, and the younger werewolf rested his forehead against his, gazing into his eyes again like he could find the meaning of life there. It made Derek feel special and too important at the same time. 

“I’m yours, you know,” Scott whispered, and Derek could have sworn his heart all out stopped for a moment. This, this was too much. He put one hand on Scott’s arm to push him away, and the other on the car door handle. He suddenly needed air. A lot of air. 

He didn’t let himself look back at Scott as he leaped out of the Camaro and started running. He didn’t even care about locking his beloved car. Derek just ran, shifting as soon as he was clear of any human trails, letting the wolf take him over, letting his foolish mind go blank. Earth and leaves and trees and the late afternoon sun was all he needed. 

Eventually he became aware of another set of paws pounding after him. He should have known Scott wouldn’t be left behind like that. He still didn’t stop running, making Scott chase him, seeing how far he would, perhaps not truly wanting that answer. The teen overtook him by the second mile, but didn’t try to get him to stop, just ran alongside him as if seeing who would tire first. Scott was younger, but he’d also had practice that day, and Derek, though older, had been doing this longer. It was a fair contest. 

Derek slowed first, skidding to a stop, getting dirt stuck in his claws before he shifted back. His black tee was stuck to him with sweat and his lungs were heaving. He watched Scott use a large oak to ricochet off of, landing on the ground in a graceful posture Derek would never be capable of, and shift as he stood up on two feet again. Both men merely stood there gasping for several moments.

“Holy shit,” Scott spoke first. “I haven’t done that yet. I didn’t know we could run for that long.” 

“We’re werewolves,” Derek reminded him. 

“Do we have that kind of endurance for...for everything?” Scott asked, and Derek guessed what he meant. 

“Mostly,” he told him, his breath finally caught. “You’ll just have to see,” he tried to be light hearted with it.

“Yeah we will,” Scott shot back, his tone and the once over his eyes served Derek’s form making it clear he was not to be deterred by a simple several mile suicide run through the forest. 


	11. Chapter 11

It was time. Well past time.

“Scott,” Derek started, standing up straight now that he’d fully caught his breath. “You know this...us...we...can’t be a thing, right?” He made himself say the words, determined to be the voice of reason and logic and try to be unemotional about it. He still hated them.

The younger werewolf leaned his back against the large oak, bending a knee and resting the sole of that foot on a thick root. His eyes studied Derek carefully, the playfulness ebbed away. Derek missed it, but he was thankful Scott seemed to be willing to be serious. 

“Why not?” he asked candidly. Derek folded his arms across his chest in an effort to separate himself from the difficulty of this conversation. This was the right thing to do.

“You’re only sixteen. You know why,” and his voice sounded hollow even to him. Scott’s face was as long as he’d ever seen it. 

“You didn’t seem to care the other night,” the younger man’s tone was not quite accusing but Derek’s ears burned anyway. 

“I did, though,” Derek told him. “I’ve known this is wrong, and I’ve still gone along with it, which makes me a...a criminal,” he said, unwilling to use the word pedophile; it sounded too dirty. Scott was staring at the ground, and Derek wished he’d look up at him, then corrected himself that it was better if he got mad at him, no matter how much it might hurt. 

“So that means you’ve just been trying to take advantage of me,” Scott said slowly, his expression thoughtful.

“No!” Derek jumped in, his voice plaintive. “No, I swear. Scott, I would never…” He trailed off as the teen finally looked up at him, a small smile on his face. Derek almost wanted to cry. 

“I know,” Scott said reassuringly, but with that enigmatic little grin. Then his brow furrowed in response to the pain he must have seen on the other’s face. “I know you would never do that to me. You would never do a damn thing to hurt me.” Derek just breathed, realizing the point that Scott was trying to make. 

“So please don’t do this. Obviously I want you too. You’re not a criminal.” Derek’s biceps tensed further, arms still folded. 

“But that’s not how the rest of the world would look at it,” he said, his voice tight. “And not just for me. I don’t want to do that to you.” 

“What if I don’t care?!” Scott asked, his eyes beginning to flash. 

“You should. You will,” Derek returned, trying to stay strong. “Scott, I’m not what you need. You don’t understand. I don’t want to ruin your life, your reputation…” He knew he was starting to ramble. 

“I’ve been turned into a supernatural creature,” Scott said with an edge of hysterical humor to his tone. “What chance do I have at a good reputation anymore?” Derek felt bubbles of frustration rising.

“You think this is a game?” he practically yelled. “You don’t understand. This could look really bad for you. I am not what you need. I am the last thing that you need.” Scott moved quicker than Derek would have guessed he could, which is how he found himself with his back pressed up against the old oak tree, Scott’s strong hands balled into the fabric of his shirt before he knew what was happening. 

“Shut up,” Scott said sternly, his face inches from Derek’s and his teeth half bared. “Just shut up and listen to  _ me _ for a minute, okay?” Derek could have broken his grip, certainly, but the older werewolf’s knees were rather weak at the moment. He loved when Scott’s true strength burst forth. He swallowed and Scott took that as acquiescence. 

“I know exactly what you’re getting at. I can tell you’ve tried to be careful. I may be young but I’m not stupid.” He paused for a moment, his eyes searching Derek’s at such close range making the older man almost completely powerless. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want you to get in trouble,” Scott continued, his grip lessening slightly. “But if you think you’re doing this to protect me, just stop, please.” His hands smoothed out on Derek’s chest, but he still held him in place against the tree. “You are  _ exactly _ what I need. You are exactly what I  _ want _ .” And the passion in Scott’s voice went straight to Derek’s battered heart, made him want to believe that he could have this, that he was somehow worthy of this devotion. Derek lifted his eyes to the leaves above, to break the gaze that was so intensely being shone on him. 

“You don’t understand,” he tried for the third time, his voice weak and hollow again. 

“Stop saying that!” Scott returned, with a press of his palms into Derek’s chest for good measure. “What don’t I understand?” Then he slid his hands to Derek’s sides and leaned forward, pinning the older man to the tree with his body instead. 

“Do I not understand how much we both want each other? Do I not understand that look you give me that says you’d do anything for me? Do I not understand that...I really like you?” Derek heard Scott’s heart stutter on these words, and began to appreciate how vulnerable the younger man was being with him at this moment, how nervous he was. Derek looked back down at him, and his breath caught at the wide open honesty on Scott’s face. 

It was hard to not get caught up in the moment, of believing that somebody could care about him like that, but Derek was still trying. The fact remained that the kid was only sixteen, how could he really know what that word meant, and wouldn’t humoring this just end in heartbreak for them both? The older man’s head spun. That part of him that was reawakening to the possibility of love again yearned to just allow Scott’s words to soak in. 

“I know we haven’t known each other that long,” Scott continued, softer. He relaxed his posture, apparently deciding Derek wasn’t going to try going anywhere, and laid his head on the taller man’s chest, his hands loose on Derek’s shoulders. Derek couldn’t help but think how comfortable, how right, this felt. “But you’re not going to tell me something doesn’t totally feel right about this.” Derek’s heart jumped to have his thoughts echoed back to him. 

Derek let his own muscles relax slightly, and he brought his arms up so he could rest his thumbs on Scott’s hips. His track shorts were slippery under Derek’s fingers. 

“Oh, Scott,” he breathed, resting his chin on top of the teen’s head. He closed his eyes and let himself imagine, just for a minute, that he could keep him. 

“I love the sound of your heartbeat,” Scott said gently without moving. “I know you didn’t expect this, and neither did I, but is there anything really wrong with it? I mean,  _ really _ ?” Derek thought about trying to protest again, but he could tell Scott wanted to say more, and he was tired of fighting, tired of trying to be reasonable.

“If two people care about each other, why should it matter? Yeah, okay, stupid laws. So we make sure we’re careful.” Derek was rubbing his cheek against Scott’s hair and he couldn’t help but respond to this last.

“You call this being careful? We are in public you know.” Scott leaned back and looked up at Derek, that smart ass gleam back in his eye that said he knew he was winning. 

“How many acres is this preserve? How far are we from any trails?” And he leaned up and kissed Derek again, slowly, gently, like Derek might break if he used too much force. How could he read him that well? Derek’s hands had come up to cradle Scott’s face, and when their lips parted, he pressed a tender kiss to the boy’s forehead. He wished he could keep him safe from the entire world, and he knew that was impossible, and that broke his heart a little. Love was so damn bittersweet. 

“You know it’s not just the stupid human laws we have to worry about, right?” he asked Scott as they continued leaning against the oak tree holding each other. 

“Werewolves don’t like gays?” Scott tried to guess. “Or do they have a problem with the age difference, too? Either way, fuck them,” he said with all the brazenness of youth. 

“No. It’s more Peter,” Derek said. 

“Well fuck him too,” Scott declared. Geez, the kid’s spunk was admirable but...

“Scott, that’s your Alpha,” Derek reprimanded, but only half heartedly. The two werewolves separated, realizing the sun had gone down. They turned to head back in the direction they’d come running from earlier. 

“So?” Scott asked. “He’s my Alpha. I know what that’s supposed to mean in theory but where the hell is he? I would have been screwed if not for you. What kind of Alpha leaves his Beta to just fend for himself?” 

“I know,” Derek agreed. “A shitty one. I’m sorry he is the way he is. He was never all the way right in the head but he was never this flaky. He has the nerve to threaten me to stay away from you but then he doesn’t even let you know he exists.” Scott halted his leisurely walk.

“He threatened you?” he asked, his tone full of that slow boil of anger that Derek was getting to know. 

“Not in so many words,” Derek tried to dodge, not exactly lying. 

“I think I’ll be happy to lead the hunters to this sorry excuse of a werewolf,” Scott said with venom. “And maybe I’ll teach him a thing or two while I’m at it.” Derek stopped in his tracks and put his hand on the teen’s shoulder, gripping hard enough to ensure he got his attention. The younger man looked over at him, calm but intent.

“Scott, do not underestimate Peter,” Derek said soberly. “You haven’t met an Alpha at all yet, and, as crazy as he is, Peter is one of the strongest ones I know. He is not to be messed with. When we meet with Chris on Saturday night, we lead him to Peter and we get the hell out of there. As fast as possible.” He watched Scott’s face grow mocking in the falling dusky light. 

“I’m serious, Scott,” Derek said, an edge of desperation in his voice. “Please. I don’t want you in more danger than you need to be in. I don’t care who did what to me.” The teen squinted his eyes, and Derek thought he was going to argue further. 

But he just took a deep breath and asked, “So how are we going to find him anyway?” 

“That’s what we’ve been supposed to be working on this whole time, you know,” Derek informed him, a hint of a smile starting. “Tracking.” 

“You did say you’d take me hunting.” 


	12. Chapter 12

By the time midnight came around and the moon was high in the sky, Derek and Scott had flushed and caught seven rabbits between them, releasing the terrified creatures directly after capture. They were dirty and hungry after being in the woods for hours, and Scott was yawning widely when they finally made their way back to the Camaro. Derek hadn’t been driving for more than two minutes before he looked over to see Scott fast asleep in the passenger seat. He didn’t even stir when Derek put a hand on his knee. He hated waking him when he drove up to the McCall residence, but it was a school night; he couldn’t very well take him home with him and tuck him into his own bed. Once that thought presented itself, however, it was a hard one to shake, and Derek went to sleep that night with his bed feeling bigger than it usually did.

Scott was coming over right after school the next day anyway, so it wouldn’t be that long before Derek could see him again. Or he was supposed to. Three thirty came and went, and Derek started getting just a little anxious. By four o’clock he was in his car heading to the school, forcing himself to stay calm. Maybe he’d gotten detention. Maybe he’d forgotten...no, he wouldn’t have forgotten, Derek thought. Maybe he was mad at him. Maybe it was time Derek got a damn phone, he cursed at himself. It was probably something innocent. Gods, he hoped it was.

No sign or fresh scent of him at the school. Derek drove to his house. Melissa was at work, and by the smell, Scott hadn’t been there since morning either. Not letting himself panic yet, Derek checked Stiles’s house, and seeing the boy’s beloved Jeep was gone, hoped that the two friends were somewhere together. He tried the nature preserve, his old family home, the vet’s office where Scott worked a couple days a week, even though he’d said he’d taken the week off, all the while Kate’s words, “I’m going to train her to kill him,” and the look Allison had shot Scott the other day replaying in his mind. What if that had not been a flirty glance as his stupidly jealous brain had processed it as, or if it was, what if it was a manipulative one? Derek was all too familiar with Argents being deceiving, he should have warned Scott. And he wouldn’t have listened; he was far too trusting. He hadn’t been able to train that out of him yet, and maybe he couldn’t, maybe that was something experience had to teach you, and maybe he didn’t want to be the one to do that. But Scott could be paying for that with his life right now. Derek was working hard to contain the paranoia and fear threatening to cloud his judgement. He just couldn’t think of much that would keep Scott from him willingly.

He drove by the police station, then pulled a sharp illegal U turn when he spotted Stiles’s Jeep parked outside. If Scott wasn’t with him, Derek would really start getting scared, and he suddenly realized how much he depended on Scott’s best friend to look out for him when he couldn’t be around. He parked the Camaro next to the Jeep and got out of the car before he could even think about how he wasn’t the most popular person around law enforcement. He’d been cleared of all charges, so they had nothing on him, but all of them always seemed to regard him with that lingering suspicion. None of that was any matter now, though, as all he cared about was seeing if Scott was in that building. 

He’d picked up the freshest scent yet when he’d been next to the Jeep, but he knew that Scott spent a lot of time in general in that vehicle so he didn’t let himself hope too hard until he opened the door of the station and got a whiff of his favorite person. His knees went weak with relief and he tried not to look too excited as the officer at the desk asked if he could help him. 

“Just...wondering if Stiles...Stilinski was here. I saw his vehicle outside.” He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, making things up as he went along, but the fact that he could smell Scott’s anxiety, and Stiles’s as well, for that matter, was not helping. 

“He’s here,” the officer said, giving Derek a rather confused once over. “But he’s indisposed at the moment. You can have a seat over there if you want to wait for him.” The man looked too young to have been on the force when Derek was a suspect, so he didn’t shoot the werewolf the usual dirty look. Derek nodded and sat in one of the sturdy wooden chairs a few steps to the right of the main desk. He couldn’t see into the station proper from here, but he was close enough to Scott to know that he was safe so he contented himself with that for now until he could figure out why he was here. He thought about waiting outside, not sure what excuse he was going to use for why he was so eager to see the sheriff’s son, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to step away from the reassuring scent of Scott. 

Finally Stiles and then Scott came into view, making their way to the lobby. Derek didn’t leap up and wrap Scott in his arms, but it took effort. Especially when he saw the way the teen’s eyes lit up at the sight of him. The presence of the sheriff right behind him did make it easier to control the impulse. 

“And I don’t want you two thinking about this too much. I know how you are,” Sheriff Stilinski was saying as he walked the boys out. “We’ll figure...it out.” He faltered on the end of the assurance when he spotted Derek standing up by the door. “Can I help you with something?” he asked the werewolf, his tired eyes crinkling at the corners. 

“He said he was here to see your son,” the officer at the desk helpfully chimed in. The sheriff’s brows raised at this, and Derek opened his mouth to hope something reasonable came out. Stiles beat him to it. 

“Aw man, thanks for coming,” the teen said, smooth as butter. “You got it in your car? That...thing...I need to borrow?” He pointed at Derek and blinked rapidly a few times, losing the wavering illusion of surety quickly. If Derek didn’t know better, he’d think the kid was on crack. He nodded back at him. 

“All ready to go, yeah.” 

“Then let’s go,” Stiles said excitedly, diving for the door. “See you at home, Dad,” he called over his shoulder as he shepherded Derek and Scott out of the station before the sheriff could ask any other questions. He was good at this. 

“What are you doing here?” Scott asked as soon as they were in the parking lot on the way to the vehicles. 

“You didn’t come over and I couldn’t find you,” Derek said tightly. 

“You two are just so cute,” Stiles broke in, wrinkling his nose and fawning with the enthusiasm of a twelve year old girl. This succeeded in earning him a sharp glance from Derek and an eye roll from Scott. “It’s called a phone,” he added. “You really need one. So, you know, your boyfriend can get ahold of you when something happens.”

“I’m getting one tomorrow,” Derek said quickly, then his ears caught up with the rest of what Stiles had said. 

“You told him?” he asked, looking over at Scott, at the same instant that Scott looked at Stiles and asked, “Boyfriend?” with his brow cocked. Stiles just snickered as he leaned against his Jeep. 

“It’s Stiles,” Scott said in the way of an explanation, turning his attention back to Derek. The older werewolf sighed. He knew Scott trusted his best friend implicitly, so he shouldn’t be surprised, and he supposed that meant he had to trust him as well. He shook his head to get back to what was more important at the moment.

“So why the hell are you guys here anyway? I was seriously worried.”

“I’m sorry,” Scott said. “We both had to come here right after school. They needed to question us. We found a body. On the lacrosse field.” Derek frowned deeper than he already was at this information.

“It looked like an animal attack,” Stiles added quietly. “A bad one. They’re having trouble identifying them.” 

“There was so much blood,” Scott said, his voice soft with horror and his eyes far away as if he was still seeing it. This was the same kid that wanted to punish Kate so badly and had just been threatening Peter the night before. Derek was going to need to wrap him in a hug soon or his nerves were going to fray the rest of the way. 

“Hey, we’ll figure it out,” Stiles echoed his father in an attempt to comfort his friend. He patted Scott’s shoulder. “For now let this big lug take you out to dinner or something.” He then shot Derek a look that clearly said he was handing Scott over to him and climbed in his Jeep. Derek hoped his face conveyed his appreciation as he looked back at the teen. 

They didn’t go to dinner, Scott requesting instead that they just go to Derek’s and order in pizza or something. The second the loft door slid shut, the pretenses shattered. The two werewolves were wound around each other in the next second, Derek adamantly confirming that Scott was okay in a hug that would have broken a mere human. Scott clung back just as tightly, soaking in the comfort, his anxiety melting. His legs wrapped around Derek’s waist, and the older werewolf buried his face in the teen’s neck, getting drunk on his scent.

“Thank fuck you’re okay,” he mumbled into Scott’s skin, then drew a deep breath as he pulled back a bit, still holding Scott in his strong arms. The wide, beautiful, mahogany eyes bored into him, and he reacted without thinking, his lips crashing into Scott’s. The younger werewolf gripped Derek’s collar, trying to pull him impossibly closer as he kissed him back just as passionately. Derek got dizzy when Scott’s tongue cautiously caressed his lower lip, and he opened to him without question. They made out like they’d been starved for each other, and Derek’s head spun. His muscles were quickly turning to gelatin, his blood flow gone haywire, and Scott was still wrapped around him. Derek began walking them forwards, with half a mind to find the couch. 

“You stopped kissing me,” Scott whined, hot and heavy and seductive in his ear and Derek growled in reply, his lust rising exponentially. He backed Scott into one of the wooden support beams halfway into his living room, slamming him up against it a little harder than he meant to, his eyes glowing blue. There was a loud crack as Scott’s shoulder connected with the solid post. The beam and the younger man groaned at the same time. 

“Shit, are you okay?” Derek’s gaze went wide with concern.

“You stopped kissing me,” Scott only complained again in reply, his legs finally slipping down off of Derek’s waist and his feet on the ground once more. So Derek attacked his mouth again, done with trying to hold back. Their breath heaved, and their tongues danced, and their hands started desperately reaching. Scott’s tee ripped when Derek couldn’t keep his claws from peeking out as he tore it off of the teen’s body. He had already lost his own shirt, it was somewhere tossed behind him. And still they kissed as if they were drowning and the back of each other’s throats were the shore. 

It was Scott that led Derek not to the couch, but down the hallway and into the older werewolf’s room. Derek’s brain halted for only a second before he let him, his wrist captive in the younger man’s strong grip. Even though Derek was older and in theory should have been calling the shots he was only too happy to let Scott take charge and be in the lead when he wanted to. But now the teen paused, just over the threshold of the room, as if sensing he’d taken a big step, perhaps bigger than he was ready for. He turned, presumably taking in the queen size bed, which was the only piece of furniture in the room, the sheets black as night.

Derek, still catching his breath from making out and with the blood pounding through his veins, brought a gentle hand to Scott’s cheek. He could see the lust he was feeling reflected in those golden irises but he could also feel the boy’s hesitancy. 

“Babe,” and he didn’t know where that came from, but it didn’t feel wrong leaving his bruised lips, “You know we don’t have to do anything, there’s no rush.” It was vital for Scott to know that. Derek watched the teen watch him and took in the lovely sight of a shirtless, horny Scott. His short hair was sticking up, his cheeks red from Derek’s stubble, making Derek vow he would shave more often, his jeans sporting a sizeable bulge. Derek bit his lip, trying not to let his own erection respond too obviously, but of course he was unable to help it. Scott had leaned his face tenderly into Derek’s warm palm, and the older werewolf would have stood like this for hours if that’s what Scott wanted.

The teen took a deep, almost shuddering breath.

“I know,” he said, his voice low. Then he stepped towards the older man, and without looking up at him again, dipped his head and opened his mouth to lick a slow path across Derek’s left pectoral and directly over that nipple. 

Derek gasped, feeling his jeans tighten even more and his nipple immediately harden. He relished the smirk that grew on Scott’s face, and he couldn’t bring himself to reiterate his statement, even though he knew maybe he should. Scott’s hands were on his sides, gentle but firm, and he realized he was being steered, turned so that his back was towards the bed. He went to sit, guessing that’s what was wanted, but he was on his back as soon as his ass hit the mattress, Scott holding him down by the arms and hot lips descending on his chest. 

Derek’s head went back, his abdomen and neck muscles tensing with the onslaught of kisses and then relaxing with the rush of warm breath on his bare skin. He did his best to keep his hips still as he grew impossibly hard while Scott explored every inch of his upper body. He twitched when that devilish tongue found a nipple again, and he whimpered when it began swirling. The kid should not be this good at driving him this crazy. 

“Oh gods that feels good,” Derek breathed, bringing a newly freed hand up to blindly roam over Scott’s body. His eyes were closed in appreciation of the sensations. He could lay here forever and let Scott play, his erection throbbing pleasantly. Then teeth grazed over his lower stomach and heavy fingers stroked him through the denim of his jeans. Derek’s eyes flew open. 

Scott was leaning over him from his right side, his face hovering directly above Derek’s belt, which he was starting to undo. Derek could only watch in lust filled fascination for a moment, especially as wet kisses were being consistently pressed to his belly, then his hips, then a sweet one just underneath his navel. By this time, Scott had undone his fly and zipper and Derek felt his hand on the cotton of his boxer briefs, stroking him through the fabric. Derek’s own hands gripped the bed sheets on either side of him as he willed himself to not shift. What was it about Scott getting hot and heavy with him that made it so hard to control his wolf? 

He could hear Scott’s labored, focused breathing but then he thought he must have partially blacked out as the younger man sucked a nipple into his mouth before toying at it with his teeth and at the same time slipping a hand into the waistband of Derek’s underwear. Derek’s hips moved without his permission, pressing his hard cock insistently into Scott’s testing grasp. The teen responded eagerly enough, moving to slide the confining garments down and then taking a firm hold on Derek’s length. 

The older werewolf whimpered again, and his right hand groped till it found Scott’s back, resting there. With his cock being stroked like this, most motor functions were beyond his ability. Scott’s touch was both endearingly unsure and daringly hungry as Derek could feel the teen watching him. He shifted his head and opened his eyes to be able to look back at him. Scott was so gorgeous, color high in his cheeks and his eyes bright with a brand of excitement that was clearly new to him. Derek would be lying to himself if he tried denying that it turned him on even more that he was the first that Scott was doing this stuff with. 

He moaned his name as the teen’s hand roamed down to his balls for a moment, testing the weight of them, then came back up to swipe the leaking pre come off of the tender head of his cock. Derek barely registered what he was seeing, Scott bringing his wet thumb to his lips, then licking off his first taste of another man’s fluid. A careful smile spread across his perfect face and Derek wanted to wrap him up in his arms forever. But he didn’t want to stop him from what he was doing now, which was leaning down to testingly swipe his wet tongue over where his thumb had just been. All the breath left Derek’s lungs. A few more teasing licks, and then the hand was back over his length, moving and squeezing with purpose. Scott wanted to get him off, and Derek was not going to complain. 

The older werewolf rested his hand on the teen’s back, fingers pulsing as he barely controlled the urge to dig his claws into the smooth skin. The tip of Scott’s tongue was pressed between his sharp teeth, turning purple as he bit down in concentration. Derek loved the intensity he was expending on his pleasure, it added to how amazing the strokes of his hand felt. He wished they could do this all day, but Scott was focused on a goal, his movements determined, and Derek’s balls eventually drew up as the beginnings of his orgasm rippled through his body. 

“Ohh,” was all he could get out on a groan before his hot come splashed onto his hard abdomen, his legs jerking slightly but involuntarily. He let himself float for a moment before he looked over at Scott and couldn’t help a lazy smile in response to the inordinately proud expression on his lover’s face. Derek grabbed a handful of sheet to wipe himself off with, not caring that he’d have to change them later. He needed to be able to lean up quickly and capture Scott’s mouth in a searing kiss, pouring into it all the love and appreciation he couldn’t put into words. His hand had slid down Scott’s back to grab the waistband of the boy’s jeans, his thumb tucked just inside the top of the denim. He used this grip to pull Scott towards him so he could hold him, the teen melding into his arms like he’d been made for them. 

“God you’re amazing,” Derek praised on an outbreath, then on the next deep inhale, drew in the sharp thick scent of Scott’s obvious arousal. He didn’t think that smell would ever not cause that tightening in his own belly, even though he’d just come. He began pressing kisses to Scott’s warm neck, tasting the sweet scent of his skin and wanting more. He smiled at the whimper he caused when he sucked at Scott’s earlobe, then he tested grazing his teeth down the corded muscle of his neck to his shoulder, and he knew the boy was putty in his hands. 

Leaning up on his right arm as he lowered Scott gently to the bed, switching their positions, Derek took a moment to appreciate the teen’s trust in him and watch him carefully for any signs of discomfort, physical or otherwise. Seeing nothing but devotion and desire, Derek let his hand descend on the bulge in the front of Scott’s jeans. 

“Derrreeekkk…” his name was moaned, and Derek swallowed it with another deep kiss. Drawing back again, his hand just gently resting on Scott’s erection through the denim, he lowered his lips to the teen’s ear and whispered.

“Can I suck you?” he asked, pretty sure he knew what the answer would be, but needing to make certain. 

Scott’s eyelashes fluttered as he got out, “Oh god…” He was barely able to open his eyes all the way to look at the older man. His hips began moving, his cock seeking pressure against Derek’s hand.

“Is that a no?” Derek prompted, his voice low and holding a smirk. 

“No. I mean yes!” Scott’s heart was beating like Derek had rarely heard it. “I mean…” and his eyes met Derek’s, that deep golden yellow that Derek loved. 

“Please,” Scott said huskily, and that was all the older werewolf needed. He tore Scott’s pants off as gently as he could, lowering his boxers to his ankles before he let himself get distracted by the teen’s hard cock standing at attention. He gently cupped Scott’s balls first, kneading them in his calloused palm. He watched his lover for his reaction and was rewarded with a gasping moan. His fingers slid around the exquisitely sensitive skin of the hard organ, and then Derek leaned down and took as much of the length in his warm wet mouth as he could. 

Scott tasted like sweat, and excitement, and lust, and desire, and a little trepidation. He was the sweetest thing Derek had ever put his lips on. The older man worked his mouth and tongue over the young cock, trying to give it the most amount of pleasure as he could quickly, guessing the teen wasn’t going to last long. Derek kept his hand lightly on Scott’s quivering stomach, relishing every tiny movement he felt as the boy tried to control his body from bucking or perhaps shifting. Derek tasted the edge of the wolf as Scott emptied into his throat, too mentally gone to have yelled out a warning. Though Derek hadn’t allowed a guy to come in his mouth before, he couldn’t bring himself to mind. Scott’s hand was gripping one of his own, nearly hard enough to crack bone, and the waves of pleasure Derek felt and tasted rolling off of him made almost drowning worth it. He swallowed every drop, recovering quickly, and squeezed Scott’s hand in return. 

The boy was a wreck. A blissed out, sweaty, naked, vulnerable wreck. Derek scooped him up in his arms, his heart slowly but steadily trying to beat out of his chest. He hadn’t known it was possible to care about someone this much. Scott awkwardly kicked off the pants and boxers that were pooled at his ankles in order to bring his whole body onto the bed and into contact with the older man’s. He was letting out happy little huffing sounds as the two werewolves found a comfortable position to hold each other in, Derek directing their heads towards the pillows. Scott’s head ended up on Derek’s shoulder anyway, his arms tight around him and his legs wrapping around his lover’s. 

Derek loved how Scott fit in his embrace, how his warm skin seemed to hunger for his own as their bodies pressed together. He loved how Scott glued his ear to his chest so he would be able to hear almost nothing but Derek’s heartbeat and breathing rhythm. He loved how in this moment, Scott was needy and fragile when only a bit ago, when he’d been holding Derek down by the arms, he was anything but. Every scent, every touch, every glance, every kiss, every smile and frown, every, everything; Derek loved it all. He reached for and yanked a blanket over the two of them as they lay there together, and wished they never had to move. 

Scott’s murmur was almost lost in Derek’s chest and the older man had to ask him to repeat himself. When he did, Derek was reminded of something else he loved about this young man: his never ending sass.

“Yeah, sure, you can live without me.” The sarcasm dripped off of his tongue. Derek snorted lightly in amusement at first, realizing the point Scott was trying to make after their serious conversation the day before. Then he squeezed him a little bit tighter and pressed his lips to the boy’s temple.

“I never said I could,” he murmured back. 


	13. Chapter 13

They cuddled as night fell outside the sizable window in Derek’s bedroom, cloaking the room in a comfortable darkness. When Scott stretched languidly, trying not to break contact with Derek’s skin, and then rolled over and settled himself in the crook of his body as the little spoon, Derek decided he really was never moving again. A grumble vibrated from Scott’s stomach in another few minutes, however, reminding both young men that they never had gotten that pizza. 

After reluctantly putting pants back on, Scott dug out his phone. 

“Text your mom,” Derek reminded him. 

“Already am, worry wart,” Scott flung back with a playful eye roll. He then gave Derek his phone and asked him to order pizza while he got up, stretched again, and went to wander towards the living room, presumably to get some water from the kitchen. As Derek used the cell, he tried to come to terms with getting one of these infernal devices the next day. He understood the benefits of technology, he just didn’t exactly want to be able to be that connected to the rest of the world. Or at least he hadn’t until now. 

Scott walked back into the room and tossed Derek’s shirt that he must have retrieved from the floor back at him. Then he wordlessly held his own up, just staring at Derek wryly as he displayed the large tear down the center of the back, ending in a piece of hem dangling down. 

“I’ll lend you one of mine,” Derek said contritely, and got up to grab one out of his closet. “I guess it’s the least I can do. You know, since I’m your boyfriend and all,” he teased as he handed Scott a tee shirt. He loved the sheepish grin as the teen slipped the garment on, but he loved even more the way the dark red vee neck shirt was just a little too big for him, the way it hung just a little low and a little too loose. Maybe it was silly, but there was something about seeing Scott in his tee shirt that made Derek fall in love with him even more, and it made him want to wrap his arms around the boy again.

“What?” Scott asked, catching Derek’s besotted gaze at him.

“Nothing,” the older werewolf was quick to reply. 

When the pizza was delivered, Scott set it on the kitchen counter, Derek not bothering to own a table, and opened the box eagerly. Derek was at the refrigerator, retrieving some soda he’d made sure to have on hand for when Scott came over.

“Ham and pineapple?!” The teen exclaimed. 

“Yeah?” Derek asked in concern. He was so used to living and doing things alone that he forgot not everybody liked certain things, and he’d just ordered his favorite without thinking. But when he looked over, Scott was wearing a huge smile. 

“I love you!” he said impulsively, his face beaming and then Derek watched in slight panic as Scott realized the words that had fallen out of his mouth. The smile didn’t fade, however, it only changed quality, became deeper somehow, while Scott’s eyes warmed in a way that made Derek feel safe and terrified at the same time. The teen gave a slow nod. 

“Yeah,” he said softly, in realization and truth. Derek concentrated on breathing slowly, his hand frozen on the refrigerator handle. Scott’s face began lowering, probably in an attempt to focus on the pizza once more. Derek made his brain shut off and for once let his heart speak. 

“I love you, too,” he said gently, feeling like he was absolutely having an out-of-body experience. His eyes soaked in the boy across the kitchen from him; the round eyes, the lower lip being bitten by those sharp teeth, the flush in the adorable cheeks as the boy’s face lit up and then was swiftly hidden by the lid of the pizza box. 

The two werewolves were scarfing their dinner down like starving animals, Derek looking forward to another evening spent with Scott on the couch watching a movie, even though he knew they really should be training more, when they were interrupted. They both heard the careful footsteps before the knock came on the door of the loft. Derek told Scott to wait in the living room, but of course the teen followed him anyway. 

The door slid open to reveal Chris Argent, for once not holding a weapon while facing Derek. His daughter Allison stood next to him, and her dark eyes, which were filled with sadness, found Scott immediately.

“It was Madeline,” she said in greeting. 

“From Biology class?” was Scott’s heartbroken reply, and at her slow nod, he came forward to hug the girl. Derek found it easier now to tamp down any thoughts of jealousy. He silently ushered Chris into his apartment, something he never would have been able to imagine doing but the man hadn’t spoken and was looking graver than usual. He didn’t even seem overly upset that Scott and Allison were clearly friends. A truce of some sort had unwittingly been struck.

“As you can imagine, this is concerning the body from the school,” Chris told Derek, and the werewolf nodded solemnly, curious to see where this was going. 

“It’s being blamed thus far on a vicious animal attack, but you and I know what that usually means around here,” Chris continued. 

“It wasn’t us,” Scott jumped to the defensive, fearlessly staring down the man that had pointed a gun at him not that long ago. “I was in school, and Derek was home. I think,” he ended rather uncertainly. But Chris had already raised a hand to signal the teen to stop talking. 

“I know it was neither of you,” he stated. “Neither of you have a reason. That’s part of the problem, is that there was no motive to this.”

“We know it was a werewolf though?” Derek asked. Chris looked over at his daughter.

“Show him the pictures,” he told her gravely.

At Derek’s puzzled expression, Scott chimed in, “Stiles took a bunch of pics.” 

“I had Allison ask for them when she came home and told me,” Chris explained. Derek took the girl’s phone that she was handing him, noting that she did not look at the images herself once she’d opened the message they were in. Once must have been enough, and as the werewolf studied the pictures he saw why. And Scott and Stiles had come upon this unexpectedly.

The poor girl had been ripped apart; all of her limbs were still attached, but barely. She lay in a pool of blood, her bowels spilled onto the ground, and it looked like there were chunks taken out of her, unmistakably by large, sharp teeth. No wonder it had taken some time to identify her, since her face was mostly gone, though her long blond hair, stained dark with blood was splayed out underneath her head. 

Derek silently handed the phone back to Allison, wishing he could hug Scott again in the moment for having to see that in person. That was the careless, almost gleeful work of a freshly turned rogue if he’d ever seen it. 

“I think there’s a new werewolf in town,” Chris announced into the silence. “One that hasn’t had the fortune of being taken under your wing.” He was looking at Derek, and even though Derek couldn’t tell if he meant it that way or not, he still felt a twinge of guilt. He should have known if there was a newly bitten around, but he’d been rather caught up in Scott lately. He cursed himself for being preoccupied.

“I usually catch a scent,” he explained. “I’m usually better about patrolling…” He trailed off, knowing there was no good reason for his laxity. 

“I’m not blaming you,” Chris said soberly, his eyebrows lifted and his expression honest. “You’re not the one turning people. At least I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt that you’re not,” he added. Derek shook his head slightly, knowing the man did know better than that.

“But I would like to ask for your help finding it.” Scott took a step forward at this.

“And what are you going to do if you find…‘it’?” the teen asked. 

“We’re going to kill it,” Chris said matter of factly. “That’s what we do.” He glanced at his daughter, whom Derek noticed was doing her best to put on a cold, hard exterior. 

“But…” Scott got out but Derek cut across him.

“Scott,” he said in a tone that made the boy stop, and shot him a warning glance. It was Allison that helped halt any further remark from him.

“We can’t just let them get away with doing this to Madeline,” she said, her voice high but strong. Derek had to concede that maybe she was a little tougher than her slight form and delicate features suggested. Scott looked contrite, though Derek could tell he wanted to say more. 

“Let’s start at the lacrosse field,” Derek told the Argents. “We’ll meet you there.” 

Scott at least waited until they were in the car to begin.

“They’re just going to kill this new werewolf for this? For not knowing any better?” Derek let out a soft sigh as he drove. There really was no way of putting a good spin on this.

“I told you what a rogue means for the rest of us,” he said as gently as he could. “Do you want to see more innocent people die?” 

“But what if it’s a kid? Or someone that’s never done a damn thing wrong? Well, other than this. They might not even know they did this.” Scott’s distress filled the car and soaked into Derek’s pores. If only he could take all of this ugliness away for him, but he knew he couldn’t. The older man reached over and took Scott’s hand, offering what comfort he was able to. He was pleased when the teen held on tightly, apparently not upset with him directly. 

“What if that had been me?” Scott now said softly, and Derek almost crushed his hand in an attempt to force that thought away. They both knew Scott’s first full moon could have easily gone just as badly. Derek made a mental note to thank Stiles profusely for chaining his friend to a radiator the next time he saw the guy. 

“Can’t you find them and help them?” Scott asked into the quiet that had settled. “Like you did with me?” Derek swallowed and gave the teen’s hand a little extra squeeze. 

“It’s too late. The hunters are onto them,” Derek said starkly. Thinking it over, in fairness to himself, the newbie must have been bitten right before the full moon, and not given a chance to remotely attempt to acclimate beforehand. Derek couldn’t have hoped to find them that quickly. A move which he was sure was done on purpose. 

“And there’s no way Peter will stand for me messing with another of his Betas,” he added. He did feel bad for the newly bitten one, but the Code was the Code, and there was no going back now. 

“You’re sure this is Peter’s?” Scott wanted to know.

“He’s the only Alpha careless enough to turn people and set them loose like this,” Derek answered grimly. 

“Can’t we just hunt him tonight, then?” 

“He’s not going to be so easy to find,” Derek said. “He’s smart when it comes to self preservation. We’ll hone your tracking skills with this one, and then I promise we’ll start figuring out Peter’s whereabouts tomorrow.” 

In the end, the hunters barely needed the werewolves’ noses to find the rogue, at least initially. The novice had left a clear trail for someone as experienced as the Argents were to be able to find and follow, but Derek had Scott practice anyway. 

“He’s a student,” Scott muttered unhappily as he led his mentor and the hunters from the field behind the school and into the suburbs, crossing through a park, where the werewolf had hidden while the sun rose, shifting back into human form. This is where the tracking would have been more difficult for the hunters, but Scott had no trouble following the scent trail to a modest ranch house three streets over. 

Derek watched him stop at the end of the driveway of the brick home, and he could almost see the teen’s mind working, wondering who lived here, and who they were, and did they really have to die? 

“He’s seventeen,” Scott announced. “Dark hair, glasses. There’s a new baby in there, and his parents don’t suspect a thing.” 

“You’re quite sure?” came Chris Argent’s quiet voice. Scott nodded mutely, worry deeply creasing his brow. 

“Then we’ll take it from here. Thank you,” the hunter told Scott sincerely. Derek reached out and put a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder, knowing he would need the anchor to be able to leave. Scott willingly came along, and Derek could feel his emotional and physical exhaustion. It had been a long damn day for the poor guy.

“See you Saturday,” Chris confirmed as the two werewolves turned away, and Derek merely nodded in reply. He needed to get his Scott home. 


	14. Chapter 14

“So, what, they just...killed Troy in cold blood after you left?” Stiles wanted to know. Derek was supposed to meet Scott after school, and he paused around the corner of the brick building when their voices drifted to him. 

“I guess so. I mean, what if the next person he killed was his baby brother?” Scott answered. Derek could picture the look of consideration on Stiles’ face, as there was a pregnant pause. 

“And Allison was there? She helped kill him? Like, she’s one of them now? She’s our age.”

“I’m our age,” Scott replied, his voice strained. “This is all so fucked.”

“Tell me about it,” Stiles said. “And in three days you’re going to hunt the crazy son of a bitch whose fault all of this? Dude, that’s not okay.” 

“It has to be. This has to stop. I’m lucky,  _ so _ lucky that Derek got to me and helped me learn to control it.” Scott’s tone was filled with gratitude, and around the corner, Derek’s heart warmed. 

“I’m coming with you,” Stiles announced. “Saturday night.”

“No,” was Scott’s quick reply. 

“You can’t expect me to just sit home and twiddle my thumbs while you’re out there trying to die.” Stiles was indignant, and Derek supposed he couldn’t blame him, but…

“Dere,” Scott called, “Would you stop hiding and get out here and tell him how bad of an idea this is?” The older werewolf smiled; he should have known Scott was too observant for this anymore, and he stepped around the corner. Stiles looked up at him wryly. Derek had to admit, the kid’s facial expressions were priceless. 

“I thought we were over the whole _lurking_ thing,” Stiles said, his hands moving with his words. Derek threw a smirk at him.

“Lurking is actually part of the job description for werewolves,” he said. Stiles, ever the drama queen, clutched at his chest as if in shock. 

“That’s a joke,” he declared. “Scott, Derek made a joke. What have you done to him? What have you done to our beloved sourwolf?” 

Scott was cracking up at his friend’s ridiculous antics, but Derek had to realize the relative truth behind the teasing. The teen being around was changing him, sanding down his edges, making him look at the world with at least a slightly rosier view. Scott was soft in all the places that life had hardened Derek, and it was, in a word, nice, to let himself be influenced by the younger man. The new cell phone he’d just gotten that day still felt weird in his pocket, though. 

Derek and Scott spent the rest of the afternoon in discussion about Peter and where they might begin to find him, as Derek had promised they would. He filled his boyfriend in on his Alpha’s past, the physical and mental scarring he had sustained from the fire, and the fact that Derek was surprised he’d been able to eventually heal. Or at least his body had. He was a sadistic firecracker, and where did one search for someone so unstable? They agreed they would start by circling the outer edges of Beacon Hills to start with, to see if they could catch a scent. Thanks to the unfortunate Troy, they knew he’d been around recently. 

“We can’t go now, though,” Scott said, checking the time. “I promised my mom I’d be home for dinner tonight.”

“Oh, okay,” Derek replied easily. He knew it was rare for Scott’s mother to not be working an evening shift and he never wanted to take time away from them. “That’s no problem. We can start looking when you’re done?” 

“Maybe,” Scott said, seeming like he was trying to stall on something. “Actually, my mom wants you to come over for dinner too. You don’t have to,” he rushed to add. “If...you’re not comfortable or whatever.” Derek gave the teen a smile that tried to be reassuring. This was fine; this wasn’t going to be awkward at all. He started the car and prepared to drive to Scott’s house, keeping the smile hung on his face.

Derek had rarely felt more awkward as he sat down at the dining room table. Melissa had welcomed him sincerely, and he truly hadn’t smelled any suspicion on her, but he was still on edge, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. Dinner was lasagna and side salads, a meal that had taken some effort, and it smelled wonderful. Derek complimented Melissa on the food, as one was supposed to do, and wondered when she was going to accuse him of corrupting her son. 

“So Scott, when I go to parent teacher night tomorrow at the school, what am I going to be hearing?” she asked over the plates. Derek watched an unease settle over his boyfriend’s features, but the teen tried to play it off.

“Oh sure,” he mocked, “And here I thought we were just having a nice home cooked meal as good bonding time. No...there’s always got to be an ulterior motive.” Melissa, rather than getting upset, had a smile bending the corner of her mouth while the rest of her face stayed serious. She clearly understood her son’s sense of humor, and it was good to see the rapport that the two of them had. She didn’t even have to respond other than shooting Scott a look demanding a real answer.

“I’m doing okay,” he said, only slightly squirming in his chair. “English and history could be better,” he admitted. “And maybe algebra. But the rest are decent,” he ended on a hopeful note. His mother gave a slow nod, as if she hadn’t expected a much more sterling answer. She then looked over at Derek.

“What were your best subjects back when you were in high school?” Back when, he noted. He took a moment to remember. 

“I liked gym,” he attempted a joke, earning a small smirk from Melissa, but then quickly followed it with, “I was good with English myself and biology. Hated chemistry.”

“Oh that’s the worst,” Scott groaned from across the table. 

“Derek,” Melissa asked now, “Were you able to graduate on time? With...everything going on in your life then?” Her tone was gentle and far from the interrogation that Derek may have expected. He nodded.

“Barely, but yeah,” he answered. “There was some summer school.” 

“Any thoughts of college?” she asked, taking a sip of her water, and Derek recognized what she was doing: finding out what kind of person her son had aligned himself with, but doing it in such a way that Derek felt mothered as well. It gave him a funny nervous and comforting sensation at the same time.

“I guess I haven’t narrowed down what I’d go for,” he said carefully. In truth, college had never been part of his game plan. He had the Hale family money; if he was smart with it, it would last him a good long time, and a career didn’t have to be much of a concern. 

“Dealing with the fallout from...everything...has taken up a lot too,” he added, hating to use that as an excuse, but it was not much of an embellishment, and he did not want Scott’s mother to view him as a goal-less deadbeat. She was nodding in understanding. 

“Maybe...we can look at colleges together sometime,” Scott offered up across the table, and Derek glanced over at him, wondering if he was just trying to smooth out the conversation or if he was being serious. College, more school, deadlines, professors, people: Derek didn’t much like the thought of any of it. But if he could go through it all with Scott...that might be a different story. 

“I’m not really sure how the two of you became friends,” Melissa said now, causing Derek’s blood pressure to spike, “It doesn’t really make sense to me. But if I see good grades tomorrow night, I don’t care.” Her tone was kind but cautious. “If I don’t, we’ll have to talk about how much of your time Derek’s been taking. Deal?” She looked at her son in expectation. Scott nodded firmly. 

After dinner and an amazing chocolate pie, Melissa asked Derek to help her clear the dishes. He tensed for the interrogation once they were alone in the kitchen together, but she only asked him about his apartment and where it was, sensible questions if her son was spending time there. He assured her that it was in a safe area, and tried not to dwell on the danger Scott was relatively constantly in. 

“Mrs. McCall,” he said respectfully, making eye contact with her, “Scott is safe with me. I promise.” He almost said, “I would protect him with my life,” but thought that might be a little heavy. She glanced back quickly to make sure Scott hadn’t entered the kitchen and then she looked back at Derek, her expression warm.

“I know,” she surprised him a little by stating. “Especially in light of recent events at the school and all, I want to thank you for helping to look after him. With his dad not in his life, he needs a good male influence. I try to do my best,” and here she sighed, letting the tired single mother show through for just a moment, “But there’s only so much I can do.” Derek’s heart went out to her.

“I think you’re doing a great job,” he told her. “Scott’s a good kid.” He felt strange assessing his boyfriend in this way, but it was the truth, and he was just thankful that the teen’s mother was trusting of him. She gave him a grateful smile.

“And call me Melissa,” she told him, and then she reached out and gave Derek the first maternal hug he’d received since his own mother had been murdered. He felt the sting of tears prick at the back of his eyeballs, and only hesitated for a moment before he left himself sink the rest of the way into her embrace. She understood with that sense that only mothers could have, and held him tight for a few seconds. 

“You need anything, I’m here, okay?” she told him, her brow creasing in genuine concern for him as they drew apart. Derek nodded, not trusting himself to speak just then. Just like that, Derek Hale had been accepted in a way he’d never hoped to be again. But would that remain if Melissa knew how he really felt about her son?

Derek and Scott couldn’t say goodbye in the fashion they would have liked to, of course, and Derek didn’t even dare look at the teen closely, for fear the desire to kiss him would be read on his face. They had to settle for a fist bump after which Melissa walked Derek to the door, placed a large package of leftovers into his hands, and wished him a good night. Before Derek could even pull away in his car, his phone was going off. He pulled it out of his pocket and smiled. 

_ I can sneak out in a little bit and meet you _ , the text read. 

_ No _ , Derek typed back.  _ If you’ve got homework or any studying to do, do that instead. You need a good report tomorrow _ . He’d realized, not for the first time, how much learning to be a werewolf must be taking from Scott’s regular schooling. Though it wasn’t directly Derek’s fault, and not dying was more important than grades, if Melissa tightened her stance, Scott was going to have a whole other world of problems and grief. 

_ But we were supposed to start finding Peter tonight _ , Scott sent. 

_ We’ve still got a few days _ .  _ School is important, too _ . 

He was not going to back down on this. In truth, he was beginning to feel the time crunch and to worry about how exactly they would find his uncle. He really had no idea where to begin looking for the bastard. He could train Scott how to track rabbits and deer and lead him to use his wolf senses to discern more about his surroundings than even Derek could, and the teen had certainly performed admirably the previous night. But if they didn’t have a scent to start with, or a direction to cast in for Peter, they were going to be in trouble. 

However, Derek was desperately unwilling to allow Scott to completely sacrifice being a teenager, especially after talking with his mother. He had a responsibility to try and do what was best for the kid. He drove home to his loft, hearing the phone ding a few times and fighting the urge to look at it until he was parked. 

He opened the text conversation to a frowning face emoji, then,  _ Well, I only have school till noon tomorrow cause of the parent teacher thing. Meet you then? Your place? _

Then,  _ Miss you though _ . Derek was about to type back a reply when another text came through.

_ Love you _ , it said, with a heart emoji. Derek stared at the words for a few moments, appreciating the new meaning they took on when written. Getting a phone was maybe the best thing he’d ever done. 

_ See you after noon tomorrow _ , he entered into the text field.  _ Love you too, gorgeous, _ he added before hitting send, his heart soaring in spite of the weight of the task ahead. 


	15. Chapter 15

The moment Scott walked into the loft the next day Derek sensed there was something the teen needed to say. He kissed Derek thoroughly in greeting, stalling for time but eventually those big brown eyes were trained on him. 

“What is it, Babe?” Derek prompted. Scott leaned back against the door. 

“My mom knows about us...like,  _ us _ …” came out and Derek’s heart plummeted towards the floorboards. Well, he’d known this happiness had to be short lived. He was a fool, and he’d dragged a kid along for the ride. He stepped back from Scott, figuring it was better to distance himself as soon as possible. 

“Hey,” Scott’s voice was full of affectionate concern, and he immediately chased Derek, his smooth hands coming up to cradle the older man’s jaw. “Don’t look like that. It’s okay. She doesn’t mind. I mean I’m not sure she likes it, but she’s okay with it.” Derek’s eyes narrowed at this. He wanted to find comfort in Scott’s touch and words but this was not congruent. 

“How?” he was only able to ask. Scott shrugged gently, his thumbs resting on Derek’s cheekbones. 

“I told you she trusts me. She must have decided she can trust you too.” 

“She was grilling me a little after dinner,” Derek admitted. “But not like I would have expected if she suspected...that. She even hugged me.” He allowed his hands to reach for Scott’s sides, needing the reassurance that the young man was still there, even if it didn’t make any sense that he was. 

“Yeah, she didn’t say anything after you left. But she did this morning when I was getting ready for school. She was like, that Derek’s pretty cute.” Scott was blushing as Derek cringed. “Yeah that’s what I did too. I don’t know how she could tell. But she just gave me this look and said I’m growing up too fast. Then she said she doesn’t like that you’re so much older than me, but she wants me to be happy. How could she tell?” 

“She’s a mom,” Derek said simply. With the way he and Scott felt about each other, he guessed it wasn’t surprising that they hadn’t been able to completely hide it. 

“She’s really okay with this?”

“If she wasn’t, I think you’d be dead by now.” Derek saw the truth in these words. He drew the teen to his body and held him for all he was worth, letting the reality sink in that this could be normal. 

“I mean, my birthday is next week, and then we only have a year till we’re legal.” Scott made it sound so reasonable. Derek had to chuckle into his warm neck. 

“So what do you want for your birthday, little wolf?” He felt a little giddy with the possibility of keeping his lover. 

“Let’s just get through this weekend before we worry about that,” Scott said sensibly, bringing both young men sharply back to the present. 

“Then we have a town to search for a scent,” Derek said, switching into business mode. 

They drove the perimeter of Beacon Hills as closely as they could, windows down in the Camaro, and getting out periodically to sniff the air or ground, on high alert for any sign of Peter. By sundown they had covered three quarters of the town’s border with no successful leads. Scott’s phone went off, delivering some good news, however.

“I’m passing everything!” he announced. “Wow, I really wasn’t sure. She said my history teacher wants to talk to me, and my algebra grade can’t slip anymore. But I’m averaging a C plus!” Derek reached over to hold Scott’s hand, shooting him a sideways glance. 

“A C plus?” the older werewolf asked. “If you’re thinking about college, you’re going to have to get those grades up.” Scott playfully grimaced at him. At least this was lightening the frustration they were both feeling from finding no sign of Peter. 

“Let me have this for now,” he reprimanded Derek, then said, “I want the woods.” Derek knew what he meant and pointed the car in that direction. The werewolves enjoyed a hearty run in the nature preserve, letting loose and shifting once dusk fell. Derek took the opportunity to tackle Scott, keeping things strictly on a sparring level and imparting a couple of finer points of combat to him. He didn’t want the teen to ever need to fight enough to need these lessons and tricks, but he was far from naive. 

Once they had tired themselves out, they easily held hands and leaned against each other under a tree, almost cuddling, enjoying the feeling of being together and full night coming on.

“Want to know the worst thing my mom said this morning?” Scott asked quietly. 

“Hmm?” Derek hummed with his cheek laying in Scott’s hair.

“At least I don’t have to worry about either of you getting pregnant,” Scott quoted. Derek groaned softly, and both werewolves chuckled.

  
  


Scott had a full day of classes the next day of course, and he’d had to make a deal with his mother that he would do at least an hour of uninterrupted studying directly after school each day unless he had lacrosse practice, in which case he had to do the hour after that. He considered it the bane of his existence and social life, but when Derek told him, via text message, that for every hour of studying he would kiss Scott senseless, the teen buckled down readily enough. After the allotted time was up on this first day, Derek pulled his car up to the McCall house. 

Melissa was just pulling out of the driveway and she gave him an enthusiastic wave before rolling her window down and braking for a moment. Derek felt the blush rise in his cheeks. He wasn’t yet used to the thought that the woman knew about and was okay with her having a relationship with her son. He still expected her to call him out for being a pervert or worse. But what she said before she drove away proved that she really did like him and thought of him as a good person. Maybe he just wasn’t used to that. 

“Thank you again,” she told him. “I know you mean a lot to Scott, and having you help encourage him in school means a lot to me.”  
“No problem, Mrs...,” but he caught himself, “Melissa,” he returned. She lowered her sunglasses and smiled at him. 

“There’s leftover Chinese in the fridge. Make sure you both eat.” And she drove off, like leaving for work knowing her teenage son and his twenty-three old boyfriend were going to be alone in the house was normal. Derek thanked his lucky stars for Melissa McCall and determined he would get her something special for Christmas, even though he never usually celebrated the holiday anymore.

Once in the house, Scott just hollered for him to come upstairs. Derek did, feeling out of place. It was natural by now to be alone in the loft together; entering Scott’s childhood bedroom was somehow different, another level of intimacy that tugged on Derek’s heart. He hesitated by the doorway, leaning against the frame, and cast an eye around the typical teenage room. The messy bed with the rumpled blue plaid sheets, the sneakers kicked off by the dresser’s lowest drawer left open, the basketball on the beanbag chair in the corner. 

In another corner, Scott sat at a desk, and now he shut a textbook with a pleased finality and twisted around to smile at his boyfriend. Derek soaked in that handsome grin and smiled back. 

“Okay, I did my studying, where’s my kisses?” Scott demanded, standing up from the rolling office chair. He was wearing a button down shirt for a change, a dark green one that hung in sharp lines down his slim and getting-fitter-by-the-day body. Derek’s eyes couldn’t help but travel down the teen’s form to appreciate how tight those jeans were. Scott never wore pants that tight. Derek swallowed and brought his hand up to grip the back of his own neck for some control. He was reluctant to even walk into the room with the kid looking like that and nobody else in the house. He had not planned on debauching Scott today but…

His lover was smirking at him, clearly aware of the effect he was having on the older man, damn him. Derek tore his gaze away to the window over the bed. He could feel his face, indeed his entire body, getting warm. 

“Something wrong?” Scott’s voice was saucy, he knew exactly what he was doing. Derek’s arm flexed as he squeezed the back of his neck harder, trying to not play the teen’s game. 

“No,” he got out. “Nope, nothing at all.” He thought he faked the nonchalance fairly well. He took a deep breath and a chance of looking back over at the teen. Scott had turned to face Derek so that his firm little ass wasn’t on display anymore at least. He had to throw some sass back. 

“Who are you trying to look so good for, anyway?” he tried to sound annoyed but didn’t really think he managed it. 

Scott stared deeply into Derek’s eyes from across the room and brought the golden color of his wolf to his irises, something he knew the older man could not resist.

“You,” he stated simply, dropping his voice an octave. Derek’s nostrils flared and his own eyes flashed blue as the growl crawled out of his throat. He attacked, not able to hold back any longer, and his lips plowed into Scott’s. Their wolves shuddered through both of them as they half shifted, clawing at each other, fangs coming out and almost slicing skin. Derek was breathless within seconds of making out with his lover and he pulled back for a moment to regain some control.

“There’s my kisses,” Scott cooed at him, suddenly sweet but still looking at Derek like he wanted to eat him. The older man lost the battle and desperately fumbled for Scott’s shirt collar. Buttons flew in all directions as he eagerly tore open the front to reveal the tight white tank top underneath, the young chest heaving with...laughter?

“How many shirts of mine are you going to ruin?” Scott teased, and a wild part of Derek rose to the surface. 

“As many as I want,” he hissed and claimed Scott’s mouth and tongue while he shredded the rest of the shirt off of his lover’s body. The teen was yanking on the front of Derek’s shirt, at his sides, on the waistband of his jeans, taking backwards steps and all Derek could do was shuffle forward and follow. He was a slave to this boy. 

Scott pulled Derek down on top of him on the bed, the older werewolf’s body crashing hard into him. Derek managed to get his arms on either side of Scott’s torso and he shimmied so that he was straddling the teen, groans pressed together, erections straining against denim already. Once he was under him, right where he wanted to be, Scott looked up at Derek, widening his still golden eyes in a show of innocence, and letting go of the older man to let his arms and wrists rest flat on the bed, as if begging for Derek to take hold of them. He looked for all the world like he was waiting to be completely ravaged, and Derek was barely able to keep himself from a whole shift. 

The older werewolf felt his fangs descend from his gums without his permission as he snarled in Scott’s face. He wanted to tear into the boy, to strip him and claim his body in the basest of ways, with an intensity that frightened him. His face hung, half wolfy, inches from Scott’s, while he tried to regain some sanity. He could see the teen staring in fascination or something else at his fangs.

“Don’t I scare you?” Derek growled, his throat not fully human anymore. Scott groaned as he pressed his hips upward, just slightly, not helping Derek’s control at all. Not that he was trying to. That incorrigible smirk came out. 

“Why? Cause you’re the big bad wolf?” Scott’s voice was low and seductive and made the hot blood rush even faster through Derek’s veins. Before the older man could try to formulate a response, Scott slid his own fangs out from his human teeth and he returned Derek’s lust filled snarl.

“So am I,” he growled, and sank those fangs into the muscle in the side of Derek’s exposed neck. The older werewolf let out a howl and began madly rutting at Scott’s body, claws piercing the bed on either side of the teen’s head. Scott bucked up into him just as wildly, both of their bodies driven by need and their minds gone with desire. Derek was aware of coming, the hot relief flooding through him, but he couldn’t remember exactly how he’d gotten there. The beautiful sight of Scott’s naked chest with his salted caramel skin painted creamy white helped ground him somewhat. And then the teen was shooting his own load onto himself as well, and Derek could only stare at the lewd mess, his nose tingling with the scent of sex and blood. 

The older man dug for the shreds of Scott’s tank top and lovingly wiped his boyfriend as clean as he could for the moment before collapsing half on top of him. They had both already healed the minor cuts and wounds their claws and teeth had each delivered but the evidence was still clear. Specks of drying blood decorated their torn and punctured clothing, as well as a fair share of their skin. Scott’s sheets had suffered a similar fate, and one pillow had a deep gash, the filling half exploded out of it. 

“Fuck,” Scott gasped, and gripped Derek even tighter.

“Yeah,” the older werewolf agreed, and nuzzled his face into Scott’s neck. They knew they had to move, but not quite yet. Then a door slammed and their ears thundered with the sound of pounding footsteps. 

“Scott!” came a call.

In a panic, Scott and Derek scrambled to yank their pants back up from where they’d been shoved just past their ass cheeks before they could be caught in too compromising of a position. They were still awkwardly pulling when Stiles burst into the room in typical Stiles fashion, not even slowing down. 

“OH GOD!!!!” he yelled, just in the doorway, his face contorting in horrified fascination. His limbs flailed as he tried to turn away and block his view at the same time.

“Oh calm down,” Scott called out to him. Derek wondered if humans could smell sex in a room but decided it didn’t really matter; it was pretty obvious what they’d been doing. As much as he was supposed to be the one who couldn’t be ruffled, he rather wished he could disappear at the moment. 

“Have you guys heard of closing the door?” Stiles wanted to know, having stepped out into the hallway to give the lovers a chance to finish covering themselves. 

“No one else was home. Didn’t think we had to,” Scott retorted. Derek looked at his boyfriend in exasperation, and had a weak smile thrown his way. He was going to have to remember why he’d ever begun to like Scott’s impulsive best friend. With flies and buttons done back up, and Scott pulling on a fresh tee shirt, he gave Stiles the go ahead to come in. 

The teen swung back into the room, wary eyes taking in the ripped clothes, torn bedsheets, and blood stains, and his gaze swung back and forth between the two werewolves, as several seconds of silence ticked by. 

“I’m not asking,” he determined, though it appeared a part of him would like to. 

“Why are you here anyway?” Scott attempted to reconstruct some normalcy. 

“I figured out a way to find Peter,” Stiles announced. 


	16. Chapter 16

“Bait,” Stiles declared. 

“Bait?” Derek and Scott asked at the same time.

“Bait,” was the confirmation, delivered with a rare straight face. The werewolves waited a couple of beats, both with eyebrows raised, for the human to expound on this. 

“Peter wants new victims, or uh, Betas, right?” 

“He’ll smell a trap five miles away,” Derek warned. 

“So we don’t make it look like a trap. I’ll just draw him out far enough so that you guys can get his scent.” 

“What are you going to do, dress in drag and do the hula?” Scott asked. 

Derek barely had time to appreciate the reference before Stiles answered with a finger shaking and pointed at Scott, “No, you’re not getting me to do that again.” Derek’s face twisted in amused confusion but he didn’t get a chance to ask for details before Stiles continued. Not that the next thing he said made any more sense.

“We might be able to get Jackson to do it, though,” Stiles contemplated. “I’ve still got the coconut bra…” 

“Jackson?” Scott asked in confusion.

“Yup,” Stiles confirmed, back to a straight face. 

“As the bait?!” Scott sounded appalled. 

“Oh, come on,” Stiles wheedled. “It’s not like we like him. He’s a dick.”

“Just because he’s with Lydia…”

“That’s got nothing to do with it,” Stiles interrupted, his tone indignant. Scott cocked an eyebrow at his friend. 

“Okay, well, actually it does. But not how you think. He’s going to be the next one.” Scott’s eyebrows rose higher.

“Next one…?” Scott queried. 

“Bitten,” Stiles said starkly. 

“How can you possibly know that?” Derek broke in. Stiles took a deep breath before answering.

“Everybody that Peter’s turned so far is someone who’s gone out or been with Lydia. I don’t know why but it’s the only connection I’ve been able to come up with.”

“But I’ve never gone out with her,” Scott said. 

“You kissed her.” Stiles’s voice was unmistakably accusing. 

“Dude, she kissed me,” Scott said, clearly not for the first time.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Stiles returned sharply. Then, in a lighter tone, “Just make sure your hunky man here is the only one you’re kissing anymore.” 

“No problem,” Scott said cheekily and leaned over to plant a quick smooch on Derek’s lips while Stiles, incapable of tact, stared at them and waited for their undivided attention once more. 

“And Troy and Lydia dated for like, a weekend last month while she and Jackson were fighting,” Stiles continued once the werewolves turned back to him. 

“Why exactly do you like this girl?” Derek squinted his eyes at the teen. 

“Shut up,” Stiles mumbled. 

“Okay, so…” Derek contemplated, “Even if this Jackson kid is next on Peter’s list, how do we get him to want to bite him tomorrow night? He seems to be biting people right before a full moon so they can’t control themselves for their first one.” Stiles frowned and shrugged.

“He’ll probably want to turn him before he can die by other means. Especially because he’s the one with the strongest link to Lydia. He’ll want to protect him,” the teen replied with only a small grimace.

“And how exactly is Jackson going to possibly die so that Peter can turn him first?” Scott asked in bewilderment. 

“I’m going to try to kill him,” Stiles returned, completely serious. Full silence met his words and reigned for a few moments. As Derek did his best to follow the convoluted machinations of Stiles’s thinking and the pattern that the kid had found, he had to admit there might be something to it. 

“You seem to have a gift for understanding the mind of a madman,” Derek told him. Stiles’s face broke out in a beaming smile.

“Thank you,” he said proudly. Derek blinked at him. He wasn’t sure he’d meant that as a compliment. 

“You just want an excuse to hurt him,” Scott told his friend. “Or to see him hurt at least.”

“No…” Stiles said. “Well, not really. Plus I know you two won’t actually let him get hurt.”

“It’s not the worst idea I’ve ever heard,” Derek said. “It’s also not the best. I don’t like the idea of using an innocent student like this.”

“Innocent? Jackson’s not exactly an angel,” Stiles informed him, and Scott seemed like he was grudgingly agreeing with him.

“Still…” Derek was trying to hold onto some sense of decency, some standards that made high school students being put in harm’s way out of the question. But that moral ground had been thrown out of the window when Peter had started this stupid little game or whatever he was up to. 

“How would you even get him on his own and isolated enough?” Scott asked now. Stiles gave him a sly smile.

“You just leave that to me.” He received a confused look from his best friend and a skeptical look from his best friend’s boyfriend. 

  
  


After the dinner of Chinese food, Derek let Scott drive the Camaro as far and as long as he wanted to. They didn’t talk much, both lost in their own thoughts, just listened to music and enjoyed the road and each other. Scott took them back to Derek’s, and made the older man nervous when he insisted on holding hands while they entered the building. But it was late, no one was really around, and denying Scott was not one of his strong suits. That was why he of course let the teen pick a movie to watch.

Derek thought his heart might actually melt from Scott’s cuteness when the opening song of The Lion King burst forth from the TV. Derek’s gaze slid over to where Scott had flopped down next to him on the couch. 

“Come here, you dork,” Derek told his boyfriend as he laughed affectionately and scooped Scott up in his arms to draw him in close. 

“Don’t even,” Scott laughed back. He twisted in Derek’s embrace to be able to rub noses. “I already know you like this movie. So you’re a dork too.” And they kissed with the tender ease of lovers now comfortable with each other, Scott snuggling his face into Derek’s chest afterwards. The older werewolf held the boy extra close, determined to savor every second he could spend with him. 

Soon enough, the two young men were stretched out underneath a blanket in what seemed to be their favorite cuddling position with Scott half on top of Derek, his head still on his boyfriend’s chest. Derek’s fingers played idly with Scott’s soft dark hair as they watched the movie, and every so often he would stretch his neck to press a kiss to the top of the boy’s head. This was what contentment felt like, Derek realized, and fell asleep. 

He woke up to a dark room and Scott’s groggy whisper in his ear.

“Come on, Baby, let’s go to bed.” 

Derek sunk his head into his pillow with a deep sigh. Scott was almost burrowing into his arms, like he couldn’t get close enough. A leg wound itself over Derek’s hip, a strong arm settled over his ribs, and he wrapped his own arms securely around the younger man, feeling their hearts beating against each other through their tee shirts and skin. Scott peppered Derek’s collarbone with lazy kisses before his head found a home in the crook of the older man’s neck. It was wonderful how the bed was no longer too big and lonely.

“Good night my little big bad wolf,” Derek murmured, and fell impossibly deeper in love when he felt Scott’s half asleep smile against his neck.

The next morning was filled with waking up late, slow kisses, lingering traces of fingertips on skin, and warm bodies lazily discovering new ways to fit together. Scott was as perfect of a little spoon as Derek had suspected all along, and the boy’s sleepy smell made the older werewolf want to stay in bed all day with him. 

“I love you so much,” he said softly into Scott’s ear where it rested just beneath his lips. Scott tightened his grip on Derek’s hand, which he was clutching to his chest.

“I love you, too,” he returned. Couldn’t they just stay here, just like this, instead of having to think about going hunting and possibly risking their lives later? 

“I should probably make an appearance at home. As much as I’d love to spend the whole day with you,” Scott said. They had progressed to laying side by side, more spread out, but Scott’s head still rested on Derek, on his thick bicep now. Derek nodded.

“Of course,” he agreed. “Spend some time with your mom before…” His stomach twisted in apprehension. He’d never had a problem facing a potential fight or any challenge; he was relatively fearless when it came to his physical safety. But it was not only his safety he had to worry about now. And as much as he wanted to think they’d just be able to track Peter down and get out, like he’d said, there was plenty of room, between Peter, if they even did find him, and Kate and the rest of the hunters, for something to go wrong. He felt Scott’s body shifting on the bed next to him, and those lovely eyes filled his vision.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” the teen reassured and then smothered him in a passionate kiss. 

“Do you really think Stiles can pull off whatever it is that he’s planning?” Derek asked once Scott had released his lips. 

“Absolutely,” Scott answered with conviction. Derek guessed that would have to do. 

  
  


It was a long day, and Derek found himself at the old house, working out for awhile but mostly just waiting. He wanted to get this over with. It was an unpleasant thought that he and Scott would be working with the hunters to help bring down not just a random rouge this time, but a powerful Alpha, and his uncle at that. There was no love lost between them, certainly, but Derek still didn’t like the idea that he would, if all went well, be contributing to a family member’s death. But Peter had to be stopped; there was no question of that. 

And there was Scott to think about. If Derek was smart, he would detach from the outcome of what could happen to the boy so he’d be able to focus better and keep his senses sharper. But of course there was slim chance of that. The fear of Scott getting hurt at all made Derek want to scream already. Then there was Stiles and this Jackson kid to worry about now. This had to go smoothly, it  _ had _ to. 

In this manner, Derek drove himself crazy until dark fell and he headed to the rendezvous spot at the edge of the preserve. 


	17. Chapter 17

Scott was already there, having been dropped off by Stiles before the other went to execute whatever his crazy plan was. The teen sat on the large rock overlooking Beacon Hills and Derek took a moment to appreciate his profile in the dying light of dusk before he approached him. He could have sworn Scott had bulked up slightly since Derek last saw him just that morning, or maybe this chance to observe him from a distance put him in a different perspective. Scott was in that gulf between a boy and a man, and Derek felt a bittersweet pang that he was rapidly gaining momentum towards being an adult, probably faster than he should be. But when Scott twisted to greet him with a smile, Derek was suddenly thankful that the teen would not be considered a boy much longer. 

“Any sign of the hunters yet?” Derek asked after a quick side hug. They had to be careful; they didn’t know who was around, especially tonight of all nights.

“Not that I’ve seen. Or heard or smelled,” Scott answered, his brow already furrowed. The Argents and their back up were not supposed to meet them there for another hour, but with them, one never knew. It seemed as if Chris was willing to completely follow Derek and Scott’s lead, realizing this was giving him the best or only shot he had at taking down Peter. If Chris had any control over his cold hearted sister, well, was another matter. Derek was rather surprised that she had not tried something crazy again in the last two weeks, and he knew there was no way he could hope she would not make an appearance tonight. As if to answer his uneasy thoughts, a cool breeze picked up and prickled at the werewolves’ skin. 

Derek and Scott sat next to each other on the ground in silence, with their backs leaning against the rock, wolf senses facing and attuned to the forest. It was hard to be so still; Derek wanted to go  _ do something _ . His survival instincts were kicking in and he reminded himself that control and patience would pay off. This was what he had been working to teach Scott for weeks, after all. 

“So did Stiles give any indication of what to expect?” Derek asked softly. Scott shook his head slowly. 

“He said he’ll text me if he can but he should be bringing Jackson close by us as soon as he can.”

“This is a long shot that this is even going to work,” Derek said, trying not to be too negative. 

“It’s all we’ve got, though,” Scott replied. And that was the nerve wracking part. Which did not get better when the werewolves heard the vehicles pull up about a half mile away and the hunters begin to make their way to the overhang. How would they explain that they were waiting for a sign from a measly human in order to begin to stalk an Alpha? Just as Chris’s tall form eased through the night shadows to the spot Derek and Scott were sitting, however, the werewolves’ ears picked up the chug of a recognizable Jeep engine about a half of a mile in the other direction. 

Derek gave the man a silent nod as he focused most of his attention on the far away sound, his nose simultaneously noting that Chris had brought no less than five hunters with him, and yes, Kate was in one of those trucks as well as...why the hell had they brought Allison to this particular fight? Derek tried to turn his thoughts off and his wolf senses back on. Voices were coming to them on the evening breeze, both males, one familiar and scathing, the other deeper and slightly slurred. 

“Get out of my damn Jeep!” 

“It’s the middle of the night,” the guy who must have been Jackson whined. 

“Out.” Stiles was adamant. “Don’t make me drag you out myself.” A vehicle door opening and the crunch of what Derek knew was Stiles’s feet hitting the forest floor. 

“Okay, okay,” from Jackson, as the creak of the other door traveled on the sound waves up the hill to the werewolves. As did the scent of alcohol and the impression that Jackson was not wholly steady on his feet. Derek and Scott exchanged a look, and the younger man just shrugged. 

“I almost hate that I have to do this, Jackson,” they could hear Stiles say, his voice hardening. “But then again, not really.” More heavy footsteps. The sound of something like a baseball bat dully whistling through the air, not connecting. 

Derek wished they could see what was actually going on down there. He would have been willing to bet that Stiles didn’t have a mean bone in his body before this night, but then again, he knew jealousy was a strong emotion. The chemosignals Derek was able to pick up from this distance were not indicative of true anger, however. He hoped that if Peter did show up, the performance Stiles was putting on was enough to convince him. 

“Dude, what the FUCK?!” Jackson yelled. Derek could tell Stiles was making as much noise as he could and was making sure the other boy was doing the same.

“What?” Scott’s best friend was trying to be such a hard ass, bless him. He must have lowered the bat for the moment. 

“You-you’re an asshole,” Jackson stumbled over his words. “I thought we were coming out here to…” 

“To…?” Stiles’s voice was low, almost...suggestive? 

“You know...” Jackson returned. “You’re the one that grabbed my ass at the party.” This was said as an accusation, tinged with disappointment.

Scott let out a sudden sharp snicker and quickly fell silent again but with a smirk on his face. Derek glanced at his boyfriend, who was shaking his head in amusement, and then back at Chris looming close by. The humans could of course not hear what was going on down the hill, so it was now their turn to wait patiently. 

“So you think I’d bring you out here to take advantage of you?” Stiles asked in disgust. “Well, you’re not wrong.” 

“That’s more like it,” Jackson’s usual cocky attitude leaked out. “I mean, you’re not hot but anyone can give head. I miss it since my bitch won’t do it.” And now Derek picked up more anger emanating from Stiles, more than he was pretty sure the kid had planned on. 

“You,” and Stiles’s voice was as cold as Derek could ever imagine it, “Are a piece of shit.” And with what could only be described as a war cry, Stiles’s footsteps lunged forward again. Derek tensed, ready to speed towards the two teens, remembering how Stiles had said they would not let Jackson actually get hurt. The kid really was a piece of work, apparently, Derek couldn’t help but think, but it didn’t mean he deserved whatever Stiles probably wanted to do to him in this moment. 

The werewolves heard the thunk of the baseball bat hitting what they were pretty sure was a tree and shifted as one, about to take off running. Just then an unmistakable roar echoed against the trees, loud enough for all of the humans to hear. The Alpha had taken the bait. Jackson screamed in unadulterated fear, and Derek was aware of the hunters readying their weapons even as he and Scott launched themselves down the hill. The sounds were a blur. Thick paws hitting the ground, another roar, the slam of Jeep doors, the terror in Jackson’s voice as he let out another yell as he asked what the hell that was, and Derek’s curse under his breath, scared that they weren’t going to get there in time.

They saw the tail lights winking at them in the distance as they reached the tracks the tires had churned up as the Jeep sped away, fast and erratic enough so that Derek thought it would be a wonder if Stiles didn’t run them into a tree. And they also saw the large furred shape chasing the vehicle at full speed, close enough to the bumper to be getting splattered with mud. This was not the way this was supposed to have gone. 

Derek and Scott ran on, determined to gain on their quarry before it could leap on the Jeep, which Derek knew Peter was crazy enough to do. But Stiles drove like a demon and the tail lights shrunk into the distance, Peter roaring after it. In response, or perhaps just in frustration, Scott released a roar of his own, a sound that made a shiver travel down Derek’s back. Ahead of them, the Alpha werewolf came to a sudden stop and turned almost in midair. He was snarling as he shifted back enough to be able to stand upright and face his nephew and his Beta, who brought themselves to a halt several feet from him. 

Peter’s face was speckled with mud but still managed to leave no room for doubt as to how enraged he was. Quickly recovering his breath from running, he lifted his nose to sniff deep and long at the air, drawing it in almost as if he was about to sample a fine wine. He took a single step forward, his focus clearly on Scott, and Derek watched him warily. He could hear the hunters slowly making their way through the forest behind them, as quietly as humans possibly could. Peter would of course be able to hear them, too, but his attention was being held captive enough for now by Scott. 

“Derek, what did I tell you?” He finally broke the relative silence. “I knew you probably wouldn’t listen, but this...this is rich.” His tone danced with cold, dark amusement and his red eyes flickered between the two younger werewolves. 

“You’ve become lovers. How  _ precious _ .” His lip was curled in a mocking snarl. Derek cursed himself for not thinking of the fact that the Alpha would be able to smell him on his own Beta, not to mention read the chemosignals flaring between them, regardless of how they were consciously behaving. Then Peter’s gaze lifted over their shoulders as they were joined by the hunters emerging from the deep shadows. His almost bored expression didn’t change. 

“Oh my,” cut across the clearing in Kate’s silky, acidic tone. “This is an interesting development.” Derek was trying hard not to let her words affect him; her opinion was less than worthless. He stole a glance at Scott standing next to him. The teen’s face was stone, and the older man knew his eyes must be glowing gold with rage. 

“I must say I’m rather proud of you, Derek,” she continued as he grit his teeth. “The young ones are tastier, aren’t they?” She had the nerve to sound conspiratorial. 

“Kate,” Chris shot, his voice twisted in disgust. “Shut up.” 

Derek had never thought it possible he would even silently cheer on anything an Argent said, but here they were. Standing in between Peter and Kate, an uneasy anger began simmering inside of him as well as in the atmosphere around him. He was a complete fool for agreeing to bring Scott into a situation like this. 

“Scott, let’s get out of here,” he said, barely audible.

“No, no, no, no,” Peter immediately reprimanded, his irises flashing blue, then deepening back to red. “I don’t think so. You’re not going anywhere else with  _ my _ Beta.” And now Scott had finally had enough. Derek felt his defiance almost shimmer in the air as the boy’s wolf champed at the bit.

“I’m not your Beta,” Scott roared, letting his body transform, as smooth as a dolphin riding the waves or an eagle taking flight. The claws unsheathed themselves out of his fingertips as if he’d always had them, his ears stretched effortlessly, the dark fur gracing his head and face like a lover. And his white, sharp fangs lengthened and shone dangerously even in the dim light from the waning crescent moon as he bared them at Peter. 

A thrill shot down Derek’s spine, and he shifted in that instant, knowing Scott was on the verge of attacking their Alpha. He would have to intercept; he had sworn to the boy, to the man that he loved, that he would do everything in his power to keep him from getting hurt. The metallic rustle of machine guns being raised behind them rang in his ears. 

“You’re sadly mistaken on how this works, boy,” Peter snarled, mocking pretenses gone, his voice now just cruel and hard. “I shudder to think what my dear nephew’s been teaching you.”

“More than you ever could or would,” Scott retorted, the words rumbling out of his chest. “He’s more Alpha than you’ll ever be.”

At this, Peter let loose with a horrendous answering roar, and his nose and mouth elongated into a snout full of sharp teeth, saliva dripping from his jaws. Being as vicious and inhuman as he already was, the title of Alpha allowed him to shift further than most. He dropped to all four paws, his thick fur standing on end and his murderous gaze sliding between Derek and Scott. 

The sudden but not surprising blast of gunfire deafened everyone there momentarily, but Derek’s reflexes were faster than lightning. He lunged towards Scott, using all his strength to knock the teenager to the ground before either could get accidentally shot. Instead of turning tail and running, Peter had launched himself through the air towards the younger werewolves, thus far somehow dodging the bullets. Derek tried to roll Scott away from the incoming attack, attempting to keep him as covered as possible while all Hell broke loose. 

The unexpected whizz of an arrow sang past Derek’s ear and Peter growled as the missile buried itself in his upper arm, or rather foreleg, throwing his leap off balance. He came down a mere two feet from his targets, snarling in pain and snatching at the arrow shaft sticking out of him with his wolf teeth. Derek felt a hot fleck of drool land on a hairless spot under his eye. Then Peter was a flash of dark fur again, finally actively trying not to get shot.

“Get off of me,” Scott grunted as he fought Derek’s desperate hold, while Kate screamed at her niece. 

“No! Go after the young one! Let your dad get the Alpha!” 

“I can’t,” Allison yelled back, her young voice defiant even as it filled with tears. “He’s my friend.” 

“Stupid girl,” Kate hissed. “Guess I’ll just have to do it my own damn self.” 

Out of the corner of his eye, Derek saw her lift her arm, her hand expertly clutching a shiny black Beretta. She strode forward steadily, a deadly gleam in her eye and her finger on the trigger. The pistol’s muzzle was pointed directly at Scott’s head. Derek’s heart seized up and his body froze in horror for a millisecond, just long enough to give the teen who was still struggling against him the opportunity to slide halfway out from under him. When he was pinned to the ground, Scott hadn’t been able to see that Kate was advancing on him with the intent to murder him in cold blood. He didn’t get the chance to even now before she shot him.


	18. Chapter 18

Scott  _ screamed _ in pain. Another scream, higher pitched, echoed him. Derek’s nose filled with the rich smell of the blood of the person he loved more than anything in the world. And he lost his mind. Without a second thought, or really any thought at all, a spare memory of what they had been, or a lick of concern for himself, Derek launched himself at Kate. 

The white hot fire of a bullet tore into his shoulder, then his leg, then his side, but none of them slowed him down. His claws sliced into Kate’s pulsing jugular and commenced tearing, not even giving the sadistic bitch a chance to scream before her body hit the ground. His hands slick with his ex lover’s warm blood, Derek had lost control and kept mindlessly and brutally ripping at her throat, until a familiar voice worked its way into his consciousness. 

Scott was calling his name. His precious, wonderful, beautiful, strong Scott was calling his name, which meant that his Scott wasn’t dead. Derek turned away from Kate’s body in disgust, as much at himself as anything else, dragging his claws through the dirt in an attempt to clean them. Half of Scott’s neck was coated in deep red, and it spilled over his shoulder and down his side. The bullet must have missed anything too major, for he was able to clutch at Derek’s shirt and help the older man stand mostly upright. 

They really needed to get the fuck out of there, now. He was dimly aware that the sound of gunfire had stopped, through the throbbing pain of his own wounds, and braced himself to be gunned down for what he’d just done. Instead, he heard Chris Argent roar.

“Don’t you dare touch my daughter, you son of a bitch!” 

Derek’s eyes found Allison at the far edge of the clearing, where she must have been trying to run away. Peter stood behind her, and his wolfy hands were holding the girl close against his body, pressing her back into his front, and not being delicate about where they grabbed. He was using her as a shield. Allison was smart enough to be trying to hold herself still, knowing she was not possibly strong enough to escape the werewolf’s hold by herself, but her visage clearly displayed how sickened she was at his touch. 

“Sorry Princess, it’s been awhile,” Peter leered, squeezing her closer, his right hand sliding along her upper thigh, the blood from his injury in that arm smearing onto her clothes. The girl looked like she wanted to die and kill him at the same time. Her father’s eyes glowed almost supernaturally with fury as he had to watch this, and he’d lowered his gun. Peter’s scruffy face intimately nestled into the side of Allison’s pretty one, as if he was deciding whether to kiss her or not. There was a continuous low growl emanating from Scott’s throat as he bristled with protectiveness for his friend. 

“Ahh,” Peter sighed. “No one’s willing to kill the little tart to get to me?” He commented on the standstill that he’d created, looking in turn at each of the hunters, Chris last and most intensely. No one had an answer, other than an increased rumbling from Scott. 

“Weak fools,” the Alpha stated. 

“Let her go, you bastard,” Chris’s voice was tight but firm. Peter just smiled at him, his pointed fangs peeking out. 

“Now, now, name calling isn’t going to get us anywhere,” he chastised. His tone was conversational, even as he continued hugging Allison to him, one hand still cradling her thigh, the other arm restraining her right across her small bust. 

“Look, I understand how important family is,” he said now, managing to sound like he meant it. Derek caught his glance at Kate’s body on the ground and wondered if at one point, before that woman had taken their family away, he had been able to not be so cold hearted. 

“So I propose a trade. Family for family.” His eyes flicked over and bored into his nephew’s. “Derek, come here like a good Beta. Or I bite this sweet young thing.” For emphasis, he opened his mouth and hovered his fangs barely above the skin on Allison’s neck. An involuntary whimper escaped the girl as he traced his tongue up the side of her throat, tasting the smooth flesh. Peter let out a sigh of longing. 

Tense silence reigned, even Scott’s growls having tapered off. Derek looked around, though he already knew what he was going to do. Chris Argent’s eyes were half accusing, half begging at he watched Derek. Then Scott. Anguished torment and frustration that he couldn’t do anything ruled him. And Allison’s wide, dark, desperate eyes, silently pleading with Derek across the space between them. There was only one course of action.

Wincing, trying to walk on his injured leg by himself, Derek stepped away from Scott, who let him go reluctantly with a quick last squeeze to his side where he’d been partially supporting him. No words were said between them; no words would help. Peter, drunk on power, positively glowed as he watched his nephew limp across the clearing to him. The wounds should be healing better, Derek thought, there must have been at least a trace of wolfsbane in the bullets. He’d finally dragged his weakened body in front of Peter and Allison, and he was able to read the compassion for him in the girl’s eyes, even while she was still a captive. His respect for her increased even more. 

“Pity,” Peter said softly into Allison’s ear. “You would have been a tasty morsel and a good wolf. Maybe someday, sweetheart,” he told her. He then rudely threw the girl to the ground and moved in one swift motion to latch his strong hand onto Derek’s throat, twisting the younger werewolf around so that he instead of Allison was now shielding Peter. Dagger like claws pierced Derek’s side right where he’d been shot to help hold him in place, pain searing through his abused body. 

Allison had grunted when she’d hit the forest floor, the breath knocked out of her, and crawled a few feet away. Scott was at her side in an instant, still mostly wolfy, to help her up. She gazed at him in thankful salvation, seemingly not concerned with the extra hair and the golden pupils. If Derek was going to die tonight, and he wasn’t at all sure that he wasn’t as he heard the guns cocked once more, at least he knew Scott had some solid friends to count on in his absence.

Derek’s neck was extended in Peter’s firm grip, and he was staring at Chris Argent’s semi automatic rifle pointed at him. The man hadn’t been able to keep a gun trained on his own daughter even if the creature he wanted to kill was behind her. But Derek was not his child, and his eyes were cold, if slightly apologetic, as he took aim. Ridding Beacon Hills and the world of the danger of Peter Hale was the goal here, after all. And now he could get two for the price of one. 

Chris’s trigger finger remained still. He might have hated werewolves, been born into a family whose legacy it was to protect the innocent from them, but he was a father whose daughter had just been saved by one. While his eyes remained troubled, his expression softened slightly, and he lowered his weapon once more to point it at the ground. He stood ready to raise it again if an open shot presented itself but the implication as he looked into Derek’s eyes was clear: the werewolf had earned some grateful respect from the Argent and he would not endanger him. 

Unfortunately, this left Peter to his own devices, and Derek almost wished that Chris would just take the shot. Scott stood staring at the two older werewolves, Allison having gone to join her father, and he bristled with anger to see his lover at Peter’s nonexistent mercy now. Even in the pain and danger he was in, Derek prayed that Scott wouldn’t do anything stupid. But he couldn’t give voice to the warning, because Peter’s grip was constricting his windpipe. 

“Come here, Scotty,” Peter said, commanding and low, “It’s time you learn how a good Beta behaves.” Derek’s airway suddenly completely closed off, and his knees gave out with the agony of his windpipe being crushed in Peter’s grip, the Alpha’s strength the only force keeping him from collapsing to the ground. He only wished he could look at Scott one last time but even if he could have moved his head, his vision was rapidly darkening. 

Then a roar like nothing Derek had ever heard blocked out everything, shaking the very ground and rearranging the stars flashing behind his eyeballs. A tidal wave of the strongest, most righteous anger he’d ever sensed washed over him and he was dimly aware of his body hitting the ground. His throat had been torn out of Peter’s vise grip and his lungs fought to draw in oxygen past his damaged windpipe. All he could hear was snarling and growling and bodies struggling. Derek tried to move away from the sounds of the fight, hating that he was too damaged to throw himself into it, but his limbs only reluctantly complied with this simple task, feeling like gelatin without enough air supply. He was now able to open his eyes at least, though his vision was blurry for the first few seconds. 

He’d hoped to never see Scott like this, but a thrill went through him all the same. The young man was a ruthless monster in this moment, having tackled Peter to the ground and viciously fighting his Alpha for daring to hurt his friend and lover. The two were a blur of slashing and tearing and growling and rending. The scent of wolf blood was heavy in the air, the combatants were locked together, and it was hard to tell if either was getting the upper hand. Peter was undoubtedly stronger, more experienced, and just plain meaner, but Scott had youth, Derek’s focused training, and pure anger on his side, and he was using every bit of it. 

Derek tried to roar but his throat wouldn’t cooperate yet. He felt useless since all his body would let him do was watch as Scott fought to the apparent death with Peter. Waves of power rolled off of them both as each tried to deal the worse blow. Derek didn’t know how Scott could possibly come out of this alive, and all those fearful images of his precious love mangled and dying seemed like they were about to come true. While the wolfsbane tracing its way through his veins and keeping his bullet wounds open made it impossible to protect him as he’d promised. Derek wanted to cry out in frustration. 

The ground trembled again, and another roar split the air. If Derek wasn’t already on the ground, it would have brought him to his knees. It was the roar of a triumphant Alpha werewolf, and Derek would have thought his heart should be sinking with Peter’s victory. Instead it was almost singing, and he realized the power saturating the air had a warm, almost familiar feel to it, even as Derek recognized its strength. 

The two struggling werewolves finally stilled, and the younger one with the short dark hair and caramel skin was towering over the other. Both of their clothes were in shreds, both sets of claws dripping blood, both muscular bodies injured in a dozen places, but it was Peter, clearly in extreme pain, who lay in the dirt, half torn apart and struggling to breath. He was still alive, but it was now obvious who the victor would be. 

Derek stared at Scott, transfixed. The teenage werewolf was a different creature than he’d been before this night, rage and determination and love having transformed him. He was magnificent in Derek’s eyes as he showed their former Alpha who was now in charge. Scott leaned down and pierced his claws into the side of Peter’s already shredded neck, and snarled. 

“Run,” he said to Peter, his voice low, cold, and dangerous. A shiver went down Derek’s back and even with his body in the condition it was in, Derek realized Scott’s new viciousness and power was slightly turning him on.

“Run away and never come back.” Derek’s eyes slid shut at this. Scott was his Simba, his king, but this was not the time for altruism. 

“Scott,” he called, his voice weak and rough, his throat healed just enough to speak at all. “Just kill him. Really.” 

But the teen was shaking his head slowly, his claws retracting. He really wasn’t going to do it, Derek thought. Part of him had to love the young man even more than he already did for not being willing to lose his pure soul by becoming a killer, but another part of Derek mourned the potential loss of what he’d come so close to tasting; Scott becoming his Alpha and the joyful submission that idea contained.

Scott straightened resolutely and began to step away from Peter lying prone on the ground. The sharp metallic slide of a semi automatic rifle cocking while it was aimed ensured that the older werewolf was still going to be sent to the hell he belonged, even if it was not by his Beta’s hand. But before Chris could take the killing shot, Derek watched Peter take his last rattling breath and the red glow that was leaking out of his nearly closed eyelids faded and winked out. The damage Scott had inflicted had been too much after all, and even if he hadn’t quite meant to, he’d managed to kill his Alpha. 

Derek hadn’t known that surrendering to another could feel so freeing, so wonderful, but as he stared at Scott and sensed the mantle of power settling over the young man, he would have gladly kissed his new Alpha’s feet if that’s what he asked of him. It was appropriate that he was already on his knees for this moment. He got to observe the realization hit the young man as Scott’s eyes bled from gold, through orange, and into their now rightful red. The new Alpha took a deep breath, feeling out the truth of his updated status, the power flooding his veins, and let out another roar that shook the ground. This one not in anger or threat, merely a statement. Derek’s heart threatened to burst and he fell in love on a whole new level, and more completely than he’d ever remotely dreamed possible. He belonged to Scott now in a way that could never be broken outside of death. 

Derek all but crawled to him, unable to even think about denying the pull of his Alpha even if he’d wanted to, and his injuries still preventing him from doing much more anyway. Scott was kneeling next to him in an instant, his youthful face as full of concern for his lover as it ever had been before. His hands cradled Derek’s face tenderly and his eyes, back to their human brown, drank in the sight of the older werewolf’s devoted gaze. Scott smiled, and Derek felt the miracle of love pouring into him. The pain receded somewhat. 

Footsteps crunched the leaves beside them. They’d all but forgotten they weren’t alone.

“You look pretty hurt,” Chris’s voice came down from above. “Do you need a ride somewhere?” Derek, who’d been able to get himself into a seated position with Scott’s help, looked up at the Argent in shock with shame in his soul, then away, towards a body on the ground in a pool of blood. The man’s dead sister lay not a hundred feet away, her throat ripped open and it was not only Derek’s fault, he’d done it in front of her family. Whether she deserved it or not, had that been his call to make and execute? Chris sensed his hesitation.

“I know everything she did,” he said softly. “And you were protecting your own. I don’t blame you.” 

“I’m...still sorry,” Derek mumbled. He knew what it was like to lose family and he knew he had some long soul searching ahead of him for what he’d done, even if it had been justified.

“Thanks, but we’ll be okay,” Scott answered Chris. “I’ve got a ride coming.” The stoic man nodded at the teen respectfully and stepped away without another word. Derek let his head find Scott’s shoulder and just enjoyed the feeling of release, the feeling of being taken care of for a change. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, soothed by Scott’s fingers absently running through his hair. 

He opened them to see the Argents’ truck backing up through the trees. Silent tears tracked down Allison’s face as she opened the hatch of the vehicle so her father could place her aunt’s body inside. Derek felt for her; she was just beginning to see how the world could be a place where such horrible things happened. While Chris got in the truck, Allison wiped her cheeks dry and came over to the werewolves, crouching down to where they were. 

“So I’ll see you in school?” Allison asked Scott, trying, bless her, to act normal about all of this. 

“Yeah,” Scott agreed. “We’ve got that math test on Monday right?” He looked like he could almost laugh at the incongruity of it all. Allison gave him a warm, thankful smile that quirked to the side after a moment. She took in the sight of her friend and Derek, clinging onto Scott like a lifeline, unable and unwilling to let him go. Her eyes sparkled a bit as they came back to Scott.

“I guess it wasn’t going to work out between us anyway, huh?” she poked. 

“Erm…” Scott was awkward as he glanced sideways at Derek and then gripped him a bit tighter in answer. 

“It’s okay,” she reassured. “I can tell you’re meant for each other.” She stood up but before walking away, she added playfully, “I wonder if werewolves mate for life like regular wolves do?” And with that, she turned to join her father. Scott let out a huffing laugh. 

“That’s a good question,” he said. Derek could feel his eyes on him.

“Erm…” It was Derek’s turn to feel awkward. He snuggled his head deeper into the spot where Scott’s shoulder met his neck, and listened to the calming beat of his Alpha’s heart.

“Looks like I got my birthday present a little early,” Scott said affectionately, and kissed Derek’s brow. The older werewolf’s ears picked up the familiar sound of a certain Jeep’s engine coming back for them, and knew his Alpha would make sure he was safe and sound. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Want to thank my loyal readers that have come this far. I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.   
> I watched all of Teen Wolf for the first time recently and fell unexpectedly in love with the story and the characters.   
> I wish I had more time to play in this fandom but I have so many projects I want to conquer. Maybe someday I'll be able to delve back into the sandbox.  
> Lastly, I want to thank my readers again. I was slightly hesitant to post this story, as I know the Scerek pairing has traditionally met with some flack and it's certainly not the most popular (trust me, I could also enjoy writing a good Sterek fic, again, maybe someday). But I'm grateful this found a solid audience that seems to have enjoyed it.   
> Howl on, my friends.

“What - what are those?” Derek asked, halting mid stride into his living room at the sight of the colors that had exploded on his sensible black couch. Coming closer, he saw that they were garments of some sort, sweaters from the looks of it, but the gaudiest ones he’d ever seen. Red, green, gold, blue, and even some purple swirled to make some truly ugly designs. Was that supposed to be a reindeer? Scott stood next to the couch, that adorably bratty grin on his face. 

“They’re for the party,” he told Derek. “I did tell you it was an ugly Christmas sweater party, right?” He had told the older werewolf that, to be fair. But Derek had still planned on wearing something more sensible. He’d heard of these silly parties that people seemed to like, and hated the idea of them himself. He was going, of course, because it was with Scott’s family and friends, and now, by extension, his family and friends, but...wouldn’t a plain green sweater suffice? 

“But they’re so…” Derek began, then stopped at the dawning of a crestfallen look on his lover’s face. 

“You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to.” Scott gave a small shrug, his voice shrinking. “I kind of figured you wouldn’t.” Derek heaved a dramatic sigh, crossed the room, and grabbed the larger sweater. He held it up to his torso. 

“It’s a good thing you’re cute,” he told Scott, just to watch that warm smile spread on that beloved face again. 

Since the night that Scott had become Alpha, there was a new peace in Derek’s heart that was new to him. He was smart enough to know that there were no magical fixes, but this teenager that had unexpectedly been put in his path, that he’d befriended and fallen in love with, had drastically changed his life for the better. It was as if Scott was the sun, bringing light and hope and healing. Derek could tell his young lover had a wellspring of untapped power that only time would reveal, and he felt blessed to belong to him. 

There were still bumps ahead in the road; Scott’s mother not knowing her son was a werewolf, the Alpha still had to get his world history grade up, there were rumors of another pack of werewolves and possibly other creatures wanting to move into town, and annoying ugly Christmas sweater parties. But as long as Derek had Scott, he was willing to face anything.

Even Sheriff Stilinski in a candy cane striped sweater with a three dimensional tinsel wreath on it, who gave him a passing smile as the two werewolves walked into the McCall household together. A huge Christmas tree took up the whole corner of the living room, multi-colored lights twinkling away, there was music playing from somewhere, and the scent of a baking ham permeated the home. Scott gave Derek’s hand a squeeze, knowing this was a strangely domestic and cozy environment for him. But while this might be the hokiest thing that Derek Hale had ever let himself be involved in, he couldn’t deny it had a certain charm. Especially when Melissa, in a sweater covered with pom poms, welcomed him with a sincere hug, and told him to make himself at home. She pressed a kiss to her son’s head, before placing a Santa hat there, and then swooped off to the kitchen. 

Derek laughed as Scott carefully peeled the hat off his head as soon as his mother was out of sight, then attempted to fix his hair. The younger man gave him a smirk and set the hat on Derek’s head instead. The older werewolf tried to give off a rueful air, but he couldn’t quite manage it, not with that light sparkling in Scott’s eyes. Not much had practically changed between them with Scott becoming his Alpha, since Derek had always been willing to let him have his way regardless. 

They slowly moved towards the dining room, where the sounds of conversation and music were coming from. Allison was there, and had brought her friend Lydia, who was actually smiling. Derek hadn’t known she was capable of it, but he had a feeling the girl was capable of a lot of things no one was aware of yet. Stiles was revealing himself to be sharply intelligent in a way that Derek had learned to respect, and Derek had no doubt he’d been onto something while trying to unravel Peter’s motives. Again, perhaps only time would tell. 

Speaking of Stiles, here he was in front of him, blatantly giving Derek a once over, eyeing him up and down as if he was on display. The sweater Scott had found for him had a reindeer wrapped in garland and dancing on his hind hooves. He couldn’t believe he, who owned nothing but dark clothes, leather, and denim, was wearing the thing. He had shaved for the occasion so his strong square jaw was on display, and his deep eyes were calm under his heavy black eyebrows. Of course the festive Santa hat framed all of this.

“That’s a look,” Stiles shot, taking a sip of egg nog from a strange looking cup in the shape of a moose head. Derek rolled his eyes but he couldn’t help but grin at that cheeky cynicism he’d grown so used to over the past few months. He felt Scott’s possessive arm snake around his waist, making him glance up to see where the adults’ attention was. The sheriff’s gaze was following Melissa as he helped her set the table for dinner. 

“You better watch where your eyes are roaming,” Scott warned his friend, but Derek could tell it was in good fun. Stiles scoffed. 

“Please. He’s all yours. Mine is over there.” And he turned his bright brown eyes on the redhead sitting next to Allison, so clearly in love it gave Derek’s heart a pang. 

“Aren’t she and Jackson still…” Scott trailed off. 

“Yeah,” Stiles acknowledged. “But one day. I’m telling you, one day…” Later on, over dinner, Derek saw Lydia glancing at Stiles a lot, often in annoyance, but not always, and he could see where the kid might get his endless hope from. She’d better not just be toying with the boy, though, the werewolf thought in a protective rush. 

Derek made sure he helped Melissa clean up the table afterwards. Maybe he was starting to get addicted to that nurturing look she would give him, but he also needed to know something. Setting his handful of cups next to the sink, he took a breath. 

“How can you possibly be okay with me dating your son?” he came right out with it. “I’m twenty-four, he’s barely seventeen,” he drove his point home. Melissa stopped scraping the plates into the garbage and gave Derek her undivided attention. 

“Because I see how you are together. Because I know in my heart that you would never try to hurt him. He’s probably better off with you than a lot of these high school girls, or boys, that play so many games. And I’ve seen the difference in Scott since you’ve been around. He’s happier, more self assured. And you know he never mentioned college until you?” She was matter of fact, secure in her answer. Derek knew some of those things were not just from his influence, but rather from being bitten, but then again, hadn’t he helped Scott through a lot of the changes? 

Melissa’s already gentle expression softened even more. 

“Relax, and let yourself be happy too,” she told him. “And I’d start thinking about schools, because he seems set on taking you with him.” Derek’s eyes widened a bit at this. College? Really? His heart melted in gratitude for Melissa, and he was thankful he had gotten her that deluxe spa package that he and Scott had agreed on. He couldn’t wait for her to open it later. 

Wispy clouds danced across the blinding surface of the full Cold Moon, caressing Her as they floated by on the breeze. Her brilliant light bathed all of Beacon Hills but especially one large rock where two werewolves sat together, the younger leaning back into the older one between his spread legs, while strong arms held him close. They were both in their human form for now, soaking in the moonbeams and the love they felt for each other. 

“She really is beautiful isn’t She?” Scott murmured softly from beneath Derek’s chin.

“She?” Derek asked, thinking and hoping he knew what his boyfriend meant but wanting to make sure.

“The moon,” Scott clarified. “I don’t know why,” and here his voice halted as if in some embarrassment, “but it feels like a She. Like...like a goddess or something I guess.” Derek’s arms tightened around him further, drawing Scott closer to his body. 

“I know exactly what you mean,” he whispered in his ear, his heart overflowing with love and respect and tenderness for his Alpha. Scott responded to Derek’s warmth and the intimacy of the moment by sliding his body even more into Derek’s. This brought his ass cheeks flush with the older man’s crotch and the growing erection there. In typical playful Scott fashion, as soon as he felt the bulge, he wriggled back into it, testing Derek’s control like he always did. 

Derek caught his young boyfriend’s ear oh so gently in his teeth, then released it, and spoke into it seductively. 

“If you keep doing that, little wolf, I’m going to be tempted to lay you down on this rock and have my wicked way with you.” He may have been the Beta, but he knew his Alpha still loved it when he called him that. A low rumbling laugh was his first answer.

Then Scott broke the rest of his defenses when he said, in that voice Derek would never be able to resist, “What do you think I’m trying to get you to do?” 

A howl rose towards the full moon, joyful and wild. 


End file.
